Peachtree Road Race

The Peachtree Road Race is a 4th of July tradition in Atlanta. It is the largest 10K in the world (over 55,000 this year), and it is officially the most outstanding racing experience that I've had in my 3.5 years of racing. I ran the Peachtree for the first time this year, but it will definitely not be the last. The way that the race is organized is that each runner must submit a time when they register. The runners are then placed in start waves A-Y based on their qualifying time. I was excited to be in wave E this year. I had stayed at my sister Cassie's apartment the night before because she lives less than a mile from the starting line. As I was approaching the corral for my wave, I could feel that this race was going to different and exciting. To begin with, there were photographers all over the streets taking our pictures (for later purchase). It reminded me of the photopass people at Disney World because they were in uniform with cameras in the middle of the streets. There were also about four helicopters that were flying over the start line filming the crowds for the various news channels. I found my corral and waited for the race to begin. I could see the start line from my position, and there were speakers everywhere so I could hear everything that was going on. At about 7:25 someone sang the national anthem and then there was an awesome fly-over. Wave A (otherwise known as the fast runners) began promptly at 7:30, followed by wave B at 7:35, wave C at 7:40 and so on. As each wave began, the remaining waves moved up closer to the starting line. I really liked how this was done. There was a DJ at the starting line and he made a really big deal about the start for each wave. When our wave began, he played the "Party Rock Anthem" and we were off. There were tons of spectators that were lining the street for the entire 6 miles. Businesses along Peachtree were handing out all sorts of goodies to the runners- water, t-shirts, pastries, beer, etc... There were also DJs and bands all along the course, so I was well entertained during the entire run. The only downside to the race was that it was h-o-t. They said that this was the hottest start since 1997. I ended up with a time of 59:15- which is the worst I've ever run in a 10K. I'm not upset with this time. I'm just glad that I made it in under an hour. Even with this time, I finished 504 of 3510 in my age division. That's really quite good. Below is an ariel shot of the runners taken by a news crew as well as a view of the finish area taken by me. This race was the BEST, and it is my new favorite.