I ran Philly Four Corners on 4/25/2020, beginning at the corner of Byberry & Philmont in the Somerton section of Far Northeast Philadelphia. Started my watch at 4:38 AM and ran the perimeter in a clockwise direction.
I mapped this out and ran it in the early days of the pandemic, when the world was shut down and flattening the curve was a thing. So there was hardly any traffic or cars on the road the entire day. It was beautiful. That'll never happen again...
My friend, The General, acted as my crew chief and provided mobile support at 3 locations around the city. Eddie Gieda met me under the Ben Franklin Bridge and together we ran until 63rd & Market (roughly 20M). Big ups to Wesley Celestino, Darren Damone, Kristin Carroll, Jeff & Raelynn Bauer, and my brother Frank for coming out and showing support. I stopped my watch at 16H 14M in front of the entrance to the Forest Hill Cemetery (my starting point).
This run had garnered a considerable amount of press in the days & weeks that followed - some of which I've included below. Feel free to reach out to me on IG @bdg123 if you have any questions.
Philly Four Corners is ideal for urban ultrarunners, journey runners, and folks who are training for races like Volstate, Hots, TSP Solo, TGNY 100 or other self-supported road ultras. I recently ran this route again with Michelle Goldberg on 7/4/2025 (last pic). We started at the entrance to Pennypack Park on Pine Road and ran counter-clockwise. Because it's a loop you can start wherever you'd like - but beginning here allowed us to tackle the majority of the hills early on. If I were to run it again, and I will, this is the move.
Thank you to everyone who has shown support & love for #philly4corners over the years. Now that this iconic route is official I'm looking forward to watching others improve upon my time. Remember this Philly: Hungry Dogs Run Faster!
peace & love
- gagz
1. Billy Penn
2. Philly Mag
https://www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2020/04/27/perimeter-of-philadelphia-run/
3.
Best of Philly 2020
https://www.phillymag.com/best-of-philly-archive/michael-gagliardi/
4. CBS News