Race the Bus 2018
March 27, 2018
Runners, take your mark! We’re closing in on our fifth annual Race the Bus.
If you’re a runner in the Philadelphia area, we hope you’ve participated, or at least heard rumblings of this competition in years past. This event not only marks the beginnings of spring, but is in partnership with the Clean Air Run’s Run for Clean Air.
As no two years are the same, no two races are the same. And who doesn’t love some variety along their running route? That being said, here at SEPTA we try to adhere to a formula that will draw in the most runners possible, and make getting to the race, running in, and getting home as convenient and SEPTA-friendly as possible. What that means is that while we have over 100 bus routes, we’ve limited Race the Bus (at least, so far) to routes that have multiple modes available for taking runners to the starting line.
The first year of this race, 2014, was against the Route 21, and was actually put together by the West Philly Runners, who called it “Beat the Bus.” SEPTA loved the idea! We cheered them on (well, truthfully, we were pulling for the bus, but supported the friendly competition) and loved it so much that we got involved the next year, and when springtime came in 2015, SEPTA organized another competition.
Photo credit to West Philly Runners
This one was called Race the Bus, and we partnered with the Clean Air Council to put on a bigger event, replete with a Clean Air Council sponsored happy hour after the race! The 2015 Race the Bus had Philly’s runners face off against the Route 23, starting at Broad and Oregon and finishing at 11th and Vine.
In year three, we opted for a longer route, so we picked the Route 17. 2016’s race was 4.5 miles against the Route 17, and began at Broad and Pattison, traveling north on 20th Street, turning east on Market and finished at SEPTA’s headquarters.
Last year was bone-chilling cold, but we still had a great turnout in west Philly, once against the Route 21! Last year we incorporated more modes into our race, expanding the competition beyond Runners vs Bus. Instead, in addition to sending SEPTA employees on the racing bus, we sent another on the Market-Frankford Line (and then heading to the same finish line as the bus and runners) and another in an Uber. The race results were not just about the time it took to get to the finish line, it was also about cost and comfort; it was about the whole package.
What we found was that rubber tires and running legs are no match for steel wheels. Our Market-Frankford Line rider made the trip from 40th & Chestnut to 2nd in Chestnut in 15 minutes and it only cost her $1.80 (she had a token). Second place went to[very fast] runner, making the trip in 22 minutes!
While our uberX rider made it to 2nd & Chestnut in 27 minutes, but it cost them a whopping $10.30, that's almost 6 SEPTA rides! Our Lyft rider made it a minute later and it cost them $11.37! Ouch.
While we are admittedly biased - the real winners were the people on the bus. They arrived at 2nd & Chestnut after everyone else, but they were warm, not out of breath and they did not require showers. We chatted with a few of them to see how they spent the 38 block commute, and we received a variety of responses: read two chapters of Big Little Lies, watched half an episode of Big Little Lies, knitted a hat, answered 17 emails, played Eye-Spy with their kid, practiced their French on a language acquisition app and our favorite response - nothing. That’s the beauty of SEPTA - even if there is rush hour traffic, riding SEPTA still frees up one’s hands (and in this case – legs) to do everything they would otherwise have missed.
So that brings us to… (drumroll, please) 2018!
Now that we’re back in the present, we’re thrilled to once again invite all runners, regardless of skill-level or experience or speed, to participate in this year’s Race the Bus! This one takes place on Thursday, April 5, against the Route 45 Bus, which is scheduled to depart from Broad and Oregon at 5:43pm (which will be our start time).
For full race information, including prizes and the Clean Air Council sponsored happy hour, visit our Race the Bus page (and be sure to RSVP to the event)!
So take your mark, try your best, and trust the bus!
