A dry (finally) 46th annual Broad Street Run brought out thousands of determined runners and many clever spectators to cheer them on

Despite cloudy skies and calls for rain Sunday morning, runners in the 46th annual Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run stayed mostly dry — save for some expected sweating — during the 10-mile trek from North to South Philadelphia.

“It’s holding off, it’s awesome,” said Marie Suarez of the weather around 9 a.m. as throngs of runners rounded the southwest corner of City Hall.

“The last two years it’s been pouring rain,” continued the Cherry Hill resident, who came to cheer on her daughter, Katie. “There’s nothing worse than cheering in the rain — if you’re not running in it.”

Without a downpour to dampen the fun, this pocket of Center City sprung to life in the hours after 7 a.m., when the first corral of runners left the starting gate near North Broad Street and West Fisher Avenue. In what appeared to be the only hiccup of the massive event, some participants were left to walk the final mile to the gate after a SEPTA mechanical issue left hundreds of passengers stuck for nearly a half hour underground in sweltering heat until the train could be pushed to a station so they could disembark.

An estimated 40,000 runners hit the pavement this year; Joshua Izewski won the men’s category with a 46:13.73 finish, while Amber Zimmerman claimed the women’s at 54:01.81. Bryan Morseman and Miguel Jimenez Vergara finished first in the nonbinary and wheelchair categories respectively.

Keeping with the event’s laid-back spirit, runners donned costumes ranging from pickles to Pikachu; even a woman dressed as a Dunkin’ iced coffee was seen making the dash. Cowbells rung out as wave after wave of runners raced toward the Navy Yard finish line. Along the way, DJs and bands blared everything from Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” to Bruce Springsteen classics.

At City Hall, Suarez and her husband, Augusto, hoisted homemade signs of encouragement while a live band played Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl” to keep spectators dancing. Augusto’s sign riffed on Star Wars — this year’s run fell on May 4, the unofficial day of celebration for fans of the movie franchise — complete with Baby Yoda offering words of wisdom, such as “May the course be with you.” Marie’s sign took a political bent, blending enthusiasm with political protest.

“You are running better than our government,” her sign read.

Denise Strohmayr and Patty McCoy, too, lined up to get a glimpse of their children sprinting by.

The women came from central New Jersey and became friends when their daughters, Brielle and Morgan, met at West Chester University. The girls were hardly runners before deciding to enter the Broad Street Run this year, according to their parents, and judging by Strohmayr and McCoy’s signs, both families made a day of it.

“Hurry up so we can drink,” Strohmayr’s sign said cheekily. McCoy’s suggested the moms had already been imbibing.

Further along the course, Andrew Ferraelli demonstrated that he understood the Star Wars assignment: The 31-year-old Philadelphia resident was dressed head-to-toe in an Obi-Wan Kenobi costume — robe, boots, and all.

“I’ve got a coworker, I’ve got a couple friends” in the race, Ferraelli said. “I just come out to generally cheer everybody on, give ‘em a little motivation.”

Of his interstellar attire, Ferraelli said he picked up the garb online.

“This is the only day it’s gonna work,” he said with a smile.

Other spectators, like Kelsey Rey, were equally creative. Gracing the 34-year-old’s homemade sign was “Moo Deng,” the viral pygmy hippopotamus that charmed the internet last year and unleashed a cascade of memes.

“Moo can do it!” the hippo tells runners in Rey’s rendering. The Queen Village resident said she made the sign to support her roommate, Nicolette, who had recently run past her near Washington Avenue.

“She was invigorated by the sign,” Rey said with a laugh. “Like, ‘I’ll run for that sign.’”