Wednesday morning update: Event organizer Kyle Cassidy reported "about 25 or 30 of 50 us beat the bus" Tuesday night on the event's Facebook page.

Frustrated Philadelphia commuters should take note of a race tonight between local runners and one of the city's SEPTA buses.

Organized by the West Philly Runners, Beat the Bus will pit all comers against a SEPTA bus covering the #21 route. The race will start a little after 6 p.m., when the bus is scheduled to leave Penn's Landing. The runners will run alongside the bus--while no doubt bearing in mind that --and see who, or what, first reaches Pasqually's Pizza about 3.4 miles later.

"SEPTA says it will take 31 minutes for the bus to get to our finish point, which is on pace with some of our faster runners,” West Philly Runner founder Alon Abramson told Philly.com.

Abramson told Philly.com about one hoped-for outcome of the event: "Maybe people will start thinking, 'Hey, I can pack a small bag and run home from work.'"

Runners in other cities have successfully tested themselves against public transportation. In July, runners in Boston covered a 4.4-mile stretch of that city's Green Line faster than a trolley. As we reported in 2012, some New York City runners have outpaced that city's subway system. In September, video of a man trying to outrun the London Tube from one stop to the next went viral.

Related:

Runners Narrowly Win Race Against Boston Trolley

Mass Transit Racers Take on NYC Subway

Watch: Man Outruns London Tube

Scott Douglas Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times.

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