Exercising to the Beat of the Street

     After seven weeks of races I was ready for a weekend to sleep in, but not until I ran one more.  I choose the St. Dot's 5K Challenge in Drexel Hill for my final run of the season on May 21.  It was a beautiful sunny day, about 70 degrees, when I arrived at the church to pick up my race bib.  Proceeds from the race, now in its 14th year, help the community through assistance with parish school tuition, athletic fees and other family aid and scholarships funds.  See photos and video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/43t5rax .      Lining up on Burmont Avenue with over 200 other runners, I recognized some of them from previous races.  One guy told me he had thought about running the Brad Schoener 5K down the street in Arlington at 10 a.m., but decided he probably didn't have enough time to run two races in one morning.  At the sound of the horn, we were off and heading down the hill before turning left on Alexander and then right on Dermond.  My energy level was high as I

     With the Elwyn Maximum 5K my second to last race for the spring season, I was feeling a little sentimental on May 14.  After seven weeks of races, I was excited and cautiously optimistic for my first true trail run.  There was a slight drizzle falling and the air was cool when my mom and I arrived at Elwyn in Media.  The race, which benefits Elwyn's health and fitness programs for clients and staff by supporting exercise classes and promoting active lifestyles, featured an off-road/on-road/through-the-woods course that wound across Elwyn’s historic 300-acre campus.  See photos and video of the race at http://tinyurl.com/4x6c5lm.          After being advised to use bug spray before the race, I lined up with my fellow runners.  There was a great energy as we took off from near the middle of the campus and around towards Baltimore Pike.  Being such a large plot of land, I was a little worried that the runners might get too spaced out and I would get lost, but the 25 route dir

    It was a great night for an evening run on May 7 at the third annual Twilight 5K Run in Havertown.  A week after the Blue Cross Broad Street Run, I was happy to race on another mostly flat and straight course.  Temps were in the low 70s and over 200 runners, along with many walkers, were gathered at Haverford High School.  The school's jazz band entertained the crowd before the race, which benefited the Haverford Education Foundation.  A happy surprise while picking up my race bib was seeing my friend Kathy, who had just an hour before decided to run.  It's always more fun to run with someone.  (See video & photos of the race at  http://tinyurl.com/66e4feb).      After the 1-mile Kids Run, we lined up on Mill Road in front of the school.  Just before the start, I noticed that the sky was getting darker and the wind was picking up.  Since I ran once this spring in the rain, I was ok with a little precipitation but hey, I just got new sneakers!  Gratefully the rain never

          Up at 5:15 a.m. Sunday, May 1 I was ready to race!  I met my co-worker Lisa and three of her friends and we headed down to the Blue Cross Broad Street Run.  It was a chilly start, but perfect for running and a billion times better than last year's temperature of 90 degrees.  Parking at the Wells Fargo Center, we hopped on the Broad Street Line and headed up to the Olney Station.  With the trains packed with runners, the air was full of excitement and anticipation.  It's amazing that so many people have woken up before dawn to exercise.  When the race began in 1980, there were 1,576 finishers (1,454 men and 122 women).  It grew slow but steady and since the year 2000 (7,742 finishers) it has skyrocketed to 30,000 and sold out last year and this year.      Walking over to Central High School, I checked my watch and saw it was only 6:45, plenty of time before the 8:30 start.  Since I had done the race last year, I was less nervous and knew what to expect.  Everyone sho