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The nation’s largest 10-mile road race is back this Sunday, and the competition is swift this year.
Last year’s women’s and men’s division winners, Amber Zimmerman and Josh Izewski, are gearing up for another win in the 2026 Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run.
Zimmerman would be accomplishing a feat that hasn’t been touched since 1987 — a sequential “three-peat” win.
“My strategy is to show up and blow up,” she said. “I think that for this race, you have to go out fast.”
Zimmerman, who’s also an instructor at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, has been running since she was seven. She was good at many sports, but running always stuck.
“Running was the cheapest and the easiest thing to do, and it was the thing that I was probably the best at,” she said.
She ran in high school and college, and got into triathlons and mountain running. When she moved to Philly five years ago, she got back into road racing.
And in 2024 and 2025, she won the Broad Street Run’s 10-mile race.
“I think the 10-mile distance is like the premier distance,” she said. “It’s just so fun to run because it’s not quite long enough to where you actually hate yourself for several miles.”
Prepping for this year’s race
This year’s Broad Street Run will take place on Sunday, May 3.
The same day that Zimmerman will try to defend her championship for the third time, the 2025 men’s winner, Josh Izewski, is also ready to compete.
“It’s the biggest 10 miler in the country and it’s a fast course,” he said. “The streets are pretty much lined with people the entire way. It doesn’t matter who you are. They got signs out. They’re cheering for you. It’s just a pretty amazing environment.”
A Doylestown native, Izewski started off as a swimmer before he transitioned to running. Running is now his full-time job.
“My days pretty much just revolve around the runs,” he said. “And then in between, recovery is part of the job.”
And Izewski is no stranger to success. He has won other half marathons, 10-milers, and marathons.
His strategy for Sunday’s race is simple and similar to Zimmerman’s — go out fast.
“With the way the course plays out, it’s just about getting out fast and holding on, because it is only 10 miles,” he said.
The race starts at Broad and Fisher and will finish in the Navy Yard. While the race is mostly downhill, there are still some uphill portions.
For those prepping for this Sunday — particularly those who feel they haven’t trained enough — Zimmerman has some tips.
“Everyone is underprepared,” she said. “It’s better to be underprepared than overprepared.”
Izewski agreed. He said it’s best to let go of expectations and stress.
“Enjoy the people going by in costumes, high-five people, tap the Mario head to get a boost, and do all that stuff when you’re out there to enjoy it,” he said.
A unique race
Zimmerman and Izewski agreed that the race was special.
“Most major marathons or major races, there’s an elite tent and as soon as you finish, you’re filtered off into this area,” Izewski said. “You don’t get to interact with everyone else that’s finishing the race. So being able to run Broad Street, you get to interact with everybody.”
Izewski emphasized that this race puts everyone on a level playing field.
“You’re not going to go play basketball and be on the court with Lebron, you’re not going to get in a pool with Michael Phelps,” he said. “So it’s the only sport in the world that is super relatable, and we’re given the opportunities to run races where we can interact with people before the race, and after the race.”
“You can do a warm-up with anybody before the race and you can cool down with anybody.”
That equality even plays out in the awards for the elite competitors. Following the standard set by the Philadelphia Distance Run in 2021, the Broad Street Run offers equal prize money in all three of its open division categories: male, female and non-binary.
Zimmerman said the Philly spirit is present at every part of the race — even on the early morning commute.
“I usually take the [Broad Street Line] train from Center City up to the start line, and you just get to talk to people,” she said. “Everybody’s super friendly on the train heading up.”
Both runners say there is crowd support the whole way, though they can both get too tunneled in on racing to see it. Still, Zimmerman says she enjoys getting to experience the different neighborhoods and cultural landmarks while running down Broad Street, especially at City Hall.
“It’s just this massive building in front of you and it’s just an iconic view,” she said. “I always love the photos from that section because Center City is just a lot of historic architecture.”
Izewski says this year will probably be a fight, but that he is confident about his trajectory.
“I’m not sure who’s showing up to the race or what the competition looks like, but I feel pretty confident that there’ll be some good runners out there to run with the whole way,” he said.
Zimmerman agreed. She said she is embracing the competition.
“I think it is kind of boring when you’re just running by yourself,” she said. “So whether I’m racing men or women or guys in banana suits, it’s just a lot of fun.”
“I will say the guy in the banana suit is fast,” she added. “He’s my friend.”
If you want to spectate the Broad Street Run this weekend, there are opportunities all around the city. You can stand by City Hall, the Gayborhood, Tioga or even the South Philly Sports Complex.
We’ll provide more details on road closures, race directions and starting information later this week.
