Broad Street Bound

The Philly Broad Street Run.  It's the biggest 10 mile race in the country with 30,000 runners, and my sister was signed up to run it this year!  It was the first weekend in May, and I had no plans so I bought a plane ticket and decided to head to Philly to cheer her on.  I haven't been on the sidelines of a race in a long time, and I thought it would be fun.  Wellllll, then a few days before the big race I get a text from her saying that one of her friends bailed, and would I take his place and run it with her?  So, of course, I said yes.  Secretly I'd much rather run than be on the sidelines anyway!

So that Friday morning I flew up and she picked me up at the airport.  Her first Friday off as a part time accountant!  That was a big step for her, becoming part time in accounting to make more time for photography.  So, she picked me up and little did I know, I was in for a full day in the car.  First we picked up our race packets, which, let me just say, was a chaotic mess.  The room that they had it in was NOT big enough to accomodate that many people.  The only good part was the free Dunkin Donuts samples while we waited in line.  Anyway, then we met my best friend in Kutztown for lunch so her and Tina could talk "branding".  Then we headed out for a nice little 3 hour car trip to South Jersey for a photoshoot.  Finally, home to Philly for some sushi!  Yum! 

Then on Saturday we lounged around a lot before heading into the city to go to a Phillies game that a high school friend got us tickets for.  It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast.

We both bought these sunglasses the day before at the expo!

How good were our seats?

We finished off Saturday with the obligatory pre race pasta dinner at Bertucci's with Mom, Sarah, and J.  Delicious as always!

So that brings us to race day.  My job was to take pictures and video along the way, and I took my job seriously.  I think I took 11 videos and who knows how many pics.  Tina was sooo over my picture/video taking by the end.  But she told me to do it, so I obliged.   Haha.  Here are some shots from the day.

Oh yeah, did I mention that the race shirts were the ugliest thing EVER??  Oatmeal and purple....seriously?

Tina promptly threw hers out and traded it in for this...

Note my I-Fitness belt.  Some may call it a fanny pack, but I love that thing.

The beginning...talk about crowded!

Go Bean and Sarah!  Still feeling good at this point....

This run was pretty cool, because you ran from one side of the city to the other, on Broad Street the whole time.  It started in North Philly by Temple, went through Center City, and ended in South Philly.

The crowd heading toward Center City

It was HOT on this day, so the city opened up the fire hydrants along the way for runners to cool off.

Halfway point!  We made it to Center City!

One more mile!  The end is in sight!

We did it!  The three of us stuck together the whole time, and I am so proud of these two.  It was the furthest they have ever run and they never gave up, despite the heat.  Congrats girls!  You should be proud!

Mom came out to support us!  Too bad she missed us finish...despite the fact that we saw her and were calling her name!  Haha!  Poor mom and her bum leg.

View back to the city on our way to the car.  Man, we just ran twice that distance!

I had a great time in Philly that weekend!  It's always fun hanging out with my sis, and it always makes me wish I lived closer so we could hang out more often.  She is my best friend and I miss seeing her on a regular basis.  But alas, she has her life in Philly, and I have mine in NC.  Someday maybe, we'll live closer to each other. We'll see.....