Cecily Tynan’s Official Broad Street Run 2014 Weather Forecast


Photo by G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia

Photo by G. Widman for Visit Philadelphia

Broad Streeters can breathe a sigh of relief: The torrential rain and flooding we’ve experienced these past 48 hours—and, that, according to my weather app will continue to plague us through Friday—shouldn’t be an issue for the Sunday’s Broad Street Run. In fact, when I talked to 6ABC meteorologist Cecily Tynan yesterday, she was super upbeat about the prospects for the race.

“It’s looking really good right now,” Tynan said. “A lot better than today”—the “today,” here, being yesterday, when we got over four inches of rain, with some parts of our region seeing even more than that.

Say it with me, people: PHEW.

Tynan says temps will be in the 50s at the starting line on Sunday, reaching highs into the upper 60s by the afternoon. It’ll be about 59 degrees for most of the race period.

“I think temperatures will be ideal for running,” Tynan said, adding that there’s a chance for a few non-threatening pop-up showers Sunday morning. “At this point, it’s looking really good. You can’t blame Mother Nature if you don’t have a good race.”

Wind-wise, she’s calling for a mild crosswind, which should neither help nor hinder runners heading south on Broad. “I’d love a strong tailwind out of the north-northeast—that would be ideal for enhancing your speed for this race,” she said. “But that’s not going to happen.”

{See Also: Broad Street Run Q&A with Cecily Tynan}

The good news is, for anyone who suffered through that hot, hot, hot Broad Street Run a couple years back (Remember? When they turned on all the fire hydrants to help runners cool off?), you won’t have to deal with anything like that this year. Still, Tynan warns runners not to overdress.

“I think a big mistake that people make in long distance races is overdressing,” said Tynan, who completed Broad Street last year with a ridiculously impressive 1:02:19 finish time, and placed 34th for women over all and second in her age division. “I’ve seen people do Broad Street in tights. You do not need tights.”

Given the weather forecast this year, Tynan suggests wearing a throwaway long-sleeve shirt or sweatshirt at the starting line, and possibly throwaway cotton gloves if you tend to get cold. But once you’re out of the starting area, she says you’ll want to shed layers quickly.

“There’s a lot of sun on the course. Even years when people think it’s going to be cool, it gets hot when the sun comes out,” she said. Tynan says she’ll be wearing shorts, a tank top and compression socks.

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