The fastest Broad Street runners outran the rain Sunday. Others got soaked.

Race conditions for the 43rd Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run hovered between perfect and terrible Sunday morning, depending on who you asked, but the winners outran the rain and broke course records.

The fastest runners had a cool, foggy course for the bulk of the race, but heavy rains began to fall just before 9 a.m. while thousands of others were still chugging along Broad Street. More than 28,000 runners took part in Sunday’s race.

Cool and cloudy is a dream for most runners, but there’s always an exception.

“I hate the cold. I love the heat and running in the heat,” said Valerie Westphal, 41, of Pennsburg. “I was hurting. It definitely got worse as it went on.”

Westphal clocked in just over an hour, and most of the runners with her were soaking wet from the steady rain. Some didn’t let the weather dampen the good vibes.

“I really love running Broad Street, and this is the first year it really felt back to normal since COVID,” said runner Jon Ferreras, 33, from Harrisburg. “I saw a lot of kids and DJs, bucket drums up by Temple. It was great.”

Ferreras said he didn’t hit rain until mile 8.

“It was fine up until then,” he said. “I mean, it gets you cold and things start cramping up a little, but you’ve already got the momentum to finish.”

Race organizers spent the previous 48 hours cruising up and down Broad Street, looking for imperfections in the road, trash, or anything else that might present a problem. As would all the runners, they also saw the fat rain clouds parked over the weekend on the weather apps and tried to adjust.

“So one things we did to prepare for all this bad weather was make sure all the trees well trimmed and groomed so there was less chance of branches or leaves in the road. We had arborists on staff this week,” said Maita Soukup, a spokesperson for the city’s Parks and Recreation department.

Soukup said drains were checked several times along with known areas that hold water. She said the city had planned on seeing more discarded clothing along the course with temperatures hovering around 50 in the rain.

“That becomes a bit harder for our volunteers because all the clothes are wet and heavier,” she said.

Ultimately, people were going to get wet, and runners who began pouring in after 9 a.m. were soaked, wrapping themselves in mylar blankets to warm up.

“I’m really glad it wasn’t raining when I started because I would have froze up,” said Matthew Grant, 64, a first-time runner from Brooklyn. “It’s a real balance. I like it cold myself. The rain hit me around mile 7 and it actually felt good because I was heating up.”

Isaiah Nettles, 17, was running with the group Students Run Philly Style. He finished in one hour and eight minutes wearing more clothes than others in shorts and tank tops around.

“I like running when it’s hot, so I wasn’t taking these clothes off. No way,” he said. “I’m still cold now.”

Kenyan-born runner Cynthia Limo was the top female finisher with a record-setting finish of 50:54.

Raymond Magut, 25, a native of Kenya who lives in Texas, was the first to cross the finish line at 45:13, breaking the overall course record. Magut received a rowdy reception as he crossed mile 9, seemingly sprinting, along South Broad Street. The previous record of 45:14 was set by Patrick Cheruiyot in 2007.

This year’s Broad Street Run featured a category for nonbinary runners for the first time. The winner, Cain Leathers, finished in 53:51.

Wheelchair - Female

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