Running to support Boston brethren

Kristen Egermeier, 28, sporting knee-high red socks, joined a throng of runners Thursday evening in Center City showing solidarity with Boston following the Marathon bombings this week.

"The running community is a friendly, tight-knit group," said Egermeier, who jogged from Fishtown to City Hall to participate in the run along Market Street to Independence Mall.

People were encouraged to run to City Hall from their neighborhoods.

The running club for Manna, a nonprofit that provides meals for people with medical needs, did a 5-mile loop before arriving at City Hall.

Susan Daugherty, executive director of Manna, said that runners are a "family" and that what happened in Boston affected runners all over.

"I'm not going to be surprised if [the Boston Marathon] is more popular next year," Daugherty said.

About 7:40, the runners surged through the east-side tunnel of City Hall and poured onto Market. It took four minutes for the steady flow to finally clear out.

Egermeier ran with her dog, Finnegan, and her husband, David Hampton, 29. She plans to run in the Philadelphia Marathon in November.

The bombings, she said, would not deter the running community - or the nation.

"I think someone wanted to break America's spirit in a city [Boston] that's so full of freedom and spirit," she said after the run. "They can't do that. We won't let them."