2022 Broad Street Run - Photo by Ellen C Miller, Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Dept. Ellen C Miller
For just over forty-five years — runners standing on William Penn’s Broad Street have assembled in the early dawn hours each spring for a place in Philadelphia racing history. Like many of the traditions that are celebrated within our city limits over the course of nearly 345 years and now being highlighted with the celebration of the beginning of our nation right here 250 years ago, Philly’s annual Broad Street Run has acquired both national and international fame for close to five decades — and it’s the largest ten-mile run in America.
This Sunday, they will run again.
On that very same Broad Street on the other side of City Hall is Race Street. Race Street was originally called Sassafras going all the way back to the beginning of Philadelphia — and was renamed between 1850–1853 for the horse racing that occurred there. The area was also the site of Pedestrianism — walking foot races that sometimes lasted five or six days during the 19th century.
Today, the irony around Philadelphia’s annual Broad Street Run is that for a city whose history in America has been highlighted by the Semiquincentennial being celebrated this year, Broad Street is neither the oldest or necessarily that most significant run nor does it carry with it the most prestige or history in William Penn’s metropolis. Regardless, it is a date each spring not only attracting attention from those around our region, but around the world as well. And the popularity of the Broad Street Run has never been greater.
During its inception year in June of 1980, the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run began with less than 2,000 athletes. Two years ago, the attendance was surpassed by some 30,000 and in 2025 was expanded to accommodate 40,000 runners represented by over seventy-five nations around the globe. Only a few times in its history has Broad Street Run’s schedule been altered — including once when it ran in October of 2020 during the Covid year and also in 2023 due to a scheduling conflict with a Phillies game.
Arriving in Philadelphia from both far and wide, the first weekend in May each year sees participants gather in the early hours. The nearly ten-mile race begins at the Central High School Athletic Fields in Logan. When the race commences from in front of Einstein Medical Center — runners sprint past such Philadelphia landmarks as Roman Catholic High School, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, City Hall, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Kimmel Center.
History comes to the forefront again when the event culminates at the Navy Yard in South Philadelphia and the finish line. The Broad Street Run has seen more than its fair share of truly record-setting, historic, athletic performances including a record for the fastest finish by Raymond Magut of Kenya in 2003 with of just over forty-five minutes. Cynthia Limo of Kenya holds the female record which is just under fifty-one minutes. The men's wheelchair record is held by Tony Nogueira (2007) and Jessica Galli (2001) has the female wheelchair record.
But the Broad Street Run has been a display of talent from right here, too. Amber Zimmerman and Winter Parts finished with a time of 52:52, and 52:39 respectively in 2024. Josh Fernandez finished with a time of 55:33 and Joe Macguire with a time of 49:42. Back in the early 1970s — two-time Catholic League Champion John Jennings finished in 2nd place — with an unofficial time of 52:45.
In 2026, Philadelphia’s Broad Street Run once again will offer some 40,000 participants not just a chance but the opportunity to run through history. It just so happens during this year in Philadelphia, a chance to be a part of history couldn’t be more fitting.
