A stampede of nearly 45,000 people descended upon the City of Brotherly Love on Sunday morning for the 39th annual Blue Cross Broad Street Run. Participants ran 10 miles from North Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Navy Yard to benefit the American Cancer Society. Cheered by sign-holding, bell-jingling friends and family, runners wore custom T-shirts representing teams and charities, and picked up a bevy of promotional products after crossing the finish line.

Sponsored by Blue Cross, the event had its own merchandise tent with apparel, noisemakers and shot glasses, all plastered with the Broad Street Run logo. ACME had attendees spin a wheel to win branded beach balls, koozies, coasters, water bottles, lip balm and sunglasses. Sweet Home Healthcare was on hand to give away logoed T-shirts, water bottles and thermoses. Local nonprofit organization Fred’s Footsteps sponsored a team of runners and also gave out free flip flops to all participants. “In lite of unfortunate events around the world, it’s very safe and well-organized here,” said spectator Brian Butler of Philadelphia.

Once runners crossed the finish line, they were handed logoed plastic bags filled with nourishing snacks as well as gold medals that served as bottle openers. “The bottle opener is pretty great,” said first-time runner Joe Rorem of Princeton, New Jersey. “If there was no swag involved, I’d still run, but this is a nice bonus.”

Daniel Kemoi from Kenya was the men’s winner of the race, finishing in an unofficial time of 45 minutes and 43 seconds. Sophy Jepchirchir of Kenya was the women’s winner, finishing in an unofficial time of 55:44. In the wheelchair category, Emelia Perry of Philadelphia was the woman’s winner, finishing in 1 hour and eight minutes. New Jersey resident Tony Nogueira beat his own wheelchair racing record by finishing in 33:20.

For two days before the race, runners gathered at the Health and Wellness Expo inside the Pennsylvania Convention Center to receive their race bib, logoed T-shirt, ChronoTrack timing device and information packet. Sponsored by the Einstein Healthcare Network, the event featured dozens of vendors offering T-shirts, hats, water bottles, drawstring bags, mugs and more products.

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