The Blue Cross Broad Street Run Just Got Postponed to October
In yet another response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Philly’s beloved annual spring run will take place in the fall.
The postponed Blue Cross Broad Street Run will take place October 4th. / Photograph courtesy Independence Blue Cross
You can now add Philadelphia’s annual Blue Cross Broad Street Run to the list of events postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally scheduled for May 3rd, the popular ten-miler has been rescheduled to the morning of October 4th.
According to a recent announcement, the decision to postpone the run came after conversations with the City Health Department and continued recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control to limit large gatherings for the next several weeks. Beyond the approximately 35,000 participants the race draws in every year, the huge amount of staff, volunteers, and spectators that gather together make the Broad Street Run one of Philadelphia’s biggest (and most beloved) fitness events.
So what should you do if you purchased a bib for this year’s race? Well, the bad news is the Broad Street Run won’t issue any refunds. All participants originally signed up to run on May 3rd will automatically have their bibs transferred to the new date in the fall. But for those who can’t make it then, the Broad Street Run will waive the usual $15 transfer fee for runners to defer their bibs to the 2021 race.
Even if you aren’t available for the new date and don’t want to defer your registration until next spring, try not to let your bib go to waste. Consider transferring your spot to a friend, coworker, or family member who will be in Philly this fall — the $15 fee is waived for this too. There’s plenty of time to make decisions on all of this though, since the deadline for bib transfers and deferrals has been extended to August 30th (when we’ll all hopefully have a little more clarity about this pandemic).
Maybe there’s a silver lining in the race’s postponement, though. After all, running and walking outdoors seem to be the only exercise options available right now for those without a home gym. Training programs like Team Philly Race Training and Runcoach will both still be available for the new date, so why not use them to re-focus on a long-term goal while social distancing?
When the world feels upside down, sometimes nothing is better than the sense of running away from it. So even though we have to wait a few months longer to for this year’s Broad Street Run, maybe now you can use it as a small source of structure that we all need right now.
