Monday, May 17, 2010

Running Broad Street 2010--Part VII

Perhaps about two miles into the run, I head someone mentioning that she could see City Hall. Perhaps she saw it as an achievable, intermediate goal. Alternatively--although it may not have occurred  to me while I was running--she might have seen it as a discouraging, far-off landmark. Whatever the case, City Hall seemed to me as the psychological midpoint of the race, the point after which the psychological challenges of the race became became less daunting.

There were several reasons for this. While City Hall is past the geographical midpoint of the race--it's closer to mile 6 than mile 5--the largest crowds cheering on the runners gathered in that area. Having so many supportive people watching from the sidelines was exhilarating and refreshing, even in the heat of that day. We passed a rock band across from City Hall  playing a song by Tom Petty (I forget which one), and, even though I dislike TP (the poor man's Bob Dylan), the song seemed welcome. I also felt energized by running past so many familiar sights: this is, after all, the part of Broad Street I know best.

Yet such is the degree of focus on running that I also missed some familiar sights that I was expecting. I noted the Academy of Music as I ran past, yet I travelled a block or two before I realized that I'd missed the Kimmel Center. Still, now that I approached mile seven, the end was in sight, at least figuratively. Three miles, as far as I was concerned, was hardly a long distance.

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