Sixers’ Game 7 win and fundraising for a cause: What propelled this year’s Broad Street runners to the finish line

Thousands of people waving signs flooded Broad Street the Sunday morning after the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Boston Celtics in Game 7 to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs.

The crowds weren’t there for a Sixers parade, despite the overwhelming amount of the team’s jerseys, but to root for another group of gritty Philly athletes — participants in the Broad Street Run.

Ciera Schulcz, 23, came to the city from Horsham to cheer on her friends from Temple University as they ran by City Hall.

“If the Sixers can make it to round 2 then you can run 10 miles!!” her sign said.

The word “Sixers” was a late addition, Schulcz said.

“I left the place that says ‘Sixers’ blank,” she said. “If the Sixers lost, we were going to write ‘Flyers.’”

» READ MORE: Two new course records are set in 47th edition of the Broad Street Run: ‘The perfect morning for a run’

The 10-mile race that defines the city better than any other has been taking place on Broad since 1980. And while none of the 40,000 participants puffed cigarettes on the starting line Sunday, the family affair was infused with traditional Philly glam and chaos.

Top runners in the 47th edition of the race set two new course records. But for many more casual participants, the run was about the celebration.

Observers offered runners Jell-O shots on the corner of Bainbridge Street and shots of Bud Light on the corner of Pine Street. Others held signs that said “run for cheesesteaks” and “only thing that Hurts is Jalen.”

Outside the Union League, the rock band Right Turn at 40 played the Doobie Brothers’ “Long Train Running.” The bassist sported a Flyers jersey and while the keyboard player donned a Sixers hoodie.

For Olivia Chamberlain, Saturday night’s victory and Sunday morning’s race was all about Joel Embiid. His performance against the Celtics — just two weeks after surgery to remove his appendix — was a big motivator to Chamberlain, a Drexel University senior and the great-niece of Sixers’ legend Wilt Chamberlain.

“This is the best city on Earth,” said Olivia Chamberlain, 21, who ran down Broad Street in an Embiid jersey. “ I’m just happy to be here, and I hate Boston.”

Families reunited with runners who crossed the finish line at the Navy Yard to take photos of their champions, and enjoy a perfect sunny spring day in South Philly.

East Kensington resident Erin Caruso, 31, ran the race wearing a T-shirt that read: “mom of 2 under 2 sleep is overrated tour.” Caruso hasn’t participated in the race since 2018, but wanted to get back to running after having two kids.

“It didn’t even feel like 10 miles, its so distracting watching everybody,” she said. “It’s just such a great Philly thing.”

For some runners on Broad Street, the race was also a way to raise money for causes that are important to them.

Oriana Moore, a 34-year-old from West Philadelphia who was crowned Ms. Philadelphia 2026 last week, fundraised for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her niece, Diana, was born prematurely three years ago, and received care at CHOP.

“I wanted to give back,” Moore said, “to all the pediatricians and the nurses that helped her and who will help kids throughout the country.”

And Alle Aldrich raised funds for Legal Clinic for the Disabled. The 44-year-old was an avid runner until 2017, when she became paraplegic from an unknown illness.

» READ MORE: The first Broad Street Run had cigarettes at the start and a bandit runner. It’s come a long way.

Completing a 10-mile race in a manual wheelchair is much harder, Aldrich said. Small inclines she didn’t used to notice became “unbelievably hard.”

“The runners were the jam,” she said. “Every runner that went by was like, ‘You’re a beast! Come on, wheels! You go this.’… It was very encouraging.”

The race was Aldrich’s first using a wheelchair, and even though she said she felt like she “was gonna die” at some point throughout it, she did it to support a cause she holds dear. And completing it was special, Aldrich said.

“I’m Philly born and raised, so I love Philly,” she said. “The atmosphere on the race was really incredible.”