Temple Runs Broad | A Team With A Purpose

The Broad Street Run is a race that brings 40,000 people to the city of Philadelphia each spring. If you’ve ever seen this 10 mile-race, you may have noticed matching Temple t-shirts on quite a few participants. Runners wearing these shirts are part of the Temple Runs Broad team.

The team is a combination of what used to be separate Temple Police and Temple Risk Management teams. Professor McCloskey of the Fox School of Business initiated their coming together.

McCloskey told Temple Update “The origin of our team was Risk Management students and Temple Police, then it was Fox students and police. Then last year we really started to pull in students that were outside the business school, and we also started to pull in employees that were outside of the business school.”

All team members are required to make a $20 donation. However, every penny earned goes towards the charity of choice for each year’s fundraiser. The overall fundraising efforts are ran by the business school’s fraternity, Gamma Iota Sigma. Fundraising efforts are ran year round through different bake sales and event opportunities, with the Broad Street Run being the most lucrative event.

McCloskey emphasized how the charities chosen each year are small local charities that can really benefit from such a significant donation. This year, all donations will be benefitting a charity that is special to the Fox school. Senior Fox student, Tina Rybak, is managing the fundraising portion of the team, and explained a little more about this year’s charity choice.

“Our charity of choice is Michael’s Giving Hand. They’re a local Philadelphia charity. It’s named after Michael Donatucci, who had taken his life a few years ago. And we had selected this charity because we recently had an alum who took her life, and we’re doing this in honor of her,” Rybak stated.

Although all of the money made is donated to Michael’s Giving Hand, additional donations provide perks for members of the team. Runners running with this team receive:

• 1 Ivory Ella tech shirt with the Temple Runs Broad team logo on it
• Free parking on Temple’s campus the day of the race
• Transportation from Temple’s campus to the start of the race, and transportation back to Temple after the race
• Access to the post-race barbeque hosted by Temple Police after the race
• Guaranteed entry to the race (even if being denied a spot in the lottery)
• Special bib/gear pickup on Temple’s campus prior to the race.

The company Ivory Ella that donates all of the shirts is owned by two Fox alums. Their company values philanthropy very highly, for a portion of all of their regular purchases are donated to Save the Elephants. Prior to their donation, Temple Police was providing shirts to their team. Temple Police also provides the transportation for runners, as well as hosts the post-race barbecue.

Temple Police Captain, Eileen Bradley, who has been running the race for 19 years is in charge of all of the benefits that Temple Police provides. When asked what food to expect from the race, she said they provide “hamburgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, corn on the cob—we have everything! We feed everyone who runs with us and their families!” Captain Bradley is also responsible for getting runners a spot in the race if they don’t get one through the lottery.

Last year, the team had 250 runners and raised over $6000. McCloskey expressed that each year the team continues to grow, and they are really trying to get the word out to everyone at Temple University this year. “Anyone that’s affiliated with the university, or is a student of the university, alum, works, or is just a friend of the university, we’d love to have you on the team,” McCloskey stated.

If you’re interested in running with Temple’s team, there are two simple steps to follow!

1. Between February 1^st and February 16^th, you must register as an INDIVIDUAL in the race lottery. You can find that link here.
2. Send an email to templebroadstreetrun@gmail.com expressing your interest in the team and be added to the list. From there, they will send further instruction on payment and gear pickup times.