Philadelphia Running Calendar: 10 Spring 2016 Races to Have on Your Radar 

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As we mentioned just yesterday, spring is right around the corner (12 days, folks!) and we could not be more jazzed. And with the spring comes a slew of spring races. To help you narrow the long, long list down, we reached out to some of our runner friends in Philly and asked them which spring races they can’t wait to run this year.

They listed ‘em off and now we present you with this: 10 spring races to have on your radar, from annual favorites like the ODDyssey Half Marathon to newbies like the Philly 5 Mile. Take your pick!

1. The Philly 5 Mile
When: Monday, May 30th.
Where: The Navy Yard, South Philly
Registration: $75 for the five-mile race (You can also opt to register for yoga, at $55, or just the post-race festival, at $40.)

This new race, coming to us courtesy of the organizers behind the much-loved Philly 10K, is a race that’s really more about the post-race festival. The five-mile course will take runners through areas of the Navy Yard that have never been raced before (expect to see things like ships and aircraft carriers). Then, the race will be followed with a giant festival at the Marine Parade Grounds. Registration gets you a beer from Yards, a plate of BBQ from Marc Vetri’s Lo Spiedo, and live music from bands Good Old War and Work Drugs. Oh, and for all your friends who don’t want to run, there’s also a yoga option.

2. The Media Mile
When: Saturday, May 7th.
Where: 201 West Front Street, Media.
Registration: $22 before Aprill 22nd, $25 after.

This short-and-sweet race welcomes runners of all ages to give their all in a one-mile road race starting in front of the Delaware County Courthouse and taking runners along a quick course full of turns before they land at the finish line just a few minutes later.

3. The Love Run Half Marathon
When: Sunday, April 10th, 2016.
Where: 22nd Street and Ben Franklin Parkway.
Registration: $99 through March 31st.

This sell-out race, where you’ll run alongside 10,000 others, takes you into Center City past City Hall and down to 6th Street before circling back and taking you up MLK Drive and into West Fairmount Park. The race ends with a well-earned finish-line party complete with all kinds of Philly snacks. Think: Tastykakes and soft pretzels.

4. 5forCHOP Run 
When: Saturday, May 21st.
Where: Venice Island Performing Arts Center, 7 Lock Street, Manayunk.
Registration: $35.

This new race, benefitting the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Center for Applied Genomics, will take runners from the Venice Island Performing Arts Center along the Manayunk Canal and Schuylkill River Trail. Registration gets you a commemorative pint glass and a drink ticket to use at Manayunk Brewing Company — you know, to refuel.

5. The Broad Street Run
When: Sunday, May 1st.
Where: Broad Street and West Fisher Avenue, North Philly.
Register: Lottery winners have already been chosen, but you can still register for a charity bib.

Go ahead, call this race obvious. After all, it’s probably the most talked-about Philly race there is. But nearly every single runner we asked named Broad Street as one of the races they look forward to all year long. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid the madness in years past, the 10-miler takes runners from North Philly to South Philly on Broad Street, ending at the Navy Yard. All along Broad Street, folks set up chairs and cheer stations and scream for the 40,000 runners pummeling through the city. It’s a blast, and totally worth checking out, whether you’re running or not.

6. Hot Chocolate 15K/5K 
When: Saturday, April 2nd.
Where: Eakins Oval.
Registration: $49 for the 5K until March 13th, $54 after; $69 for the 15K until March 13th; $74 after.

This one is for runners out there, long-distance fans and 5K fans alike, who simply love chocolate. Whether running the 15K or the 5K, runners log most of their mileage on MLK Drive before snagging their hot chocolate — plus a whole bunch of other chocolatey goodies, like chocolate-covered pretzels, chocolate fondue, foods to dip in your fondue, and more — at the finish line.

7. Stroehmann Bakeries Back on My Feet 5-Miler
When: Saturday, March 26th.
Where: Schuylkill Trail Connector.
Registration: $35 before March 20th, $40 after.

Nearly all the runners we asked named this race as one of their favorites of the year, mostly because the cause is so awesome: The five-miler benefits the Philadelphia chapter of Back on My Feet, an organization that utilizes running to help the homeless population get back on their feet — get it? The course takes runners along MLK Drive up toward the Please Touch Museum, and ends with — wait for it — massages by Philamassages.

8. The River Horse 6K
When: Saturday, April 16th.
Where: River Horse Brewing Company, 2 Graphics Drive, Ewing Township.
Registration: $45.

A new race that starts and ends at a brewery? Yes, please. This 6K, an addition to the Great American Brewery Runs lineup, starts and ends at River Horse — and it ends in a big way. There’s a six-hour finish-line festival with food trucks, local vendors, live music and more.

9. The ODDyssey Half Marathon
When: Sunday, June 12th.
Where: Please Touch Museum, 4231 Avenue of the Republic, West Fairmount Park.
Registration: $84 through April 1st, $89 from then through May 2nd, $94 after that.

This half marathon doesn’t take itself too seriously: You can expect lots of costumes, optional race challenges throughout the course, and a finish-line beer garden hosted by Sly Fox Brewing Company. And if running a half marathon sounds just … not fun to you, they’ve also introduced a relay option this year that splits the race into two legs, each about the distance of a 10K. The race swag is pretty sweet, too: Finishers snag a wall-mountable beer-opener medal. You KNOW you’ve always wanted one of those.

10. Care to Carry On 5K Run/Walk
When: Sunday, April 17th.
Where: The Philadelphia Zoo, 3400 West Girard, Brewerytown.
Registration: $40.

This race, held at the Philadelphia Zoo, starts and ends with yoga, and after the post-race yoga session, there’s face painting, a DJ and more. It’s a good fit for runners with kids, as race registration gets you into the zoo for the day, too. Plus, it supports a great cause: proceeds go to Camp Erin Philadelphia, a camp that helps kids and teens cope with the death of a significant person in their life.

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