AlanandVal

Our first Peachtree Road Race

Today Alan and I ran our first Peachtree Road Race.
The AJC Peachtree Road Race has remained the world's largest 10K since the late 1970s. On July 4, 1970 in Atlanta, a group of just over 100 runners made history, just by running down the street. What began that day as a simple fun run has grown over the past forty years into one of the city’s signature events and favorite Fourth of July traditions. Each year on this date, 55,000 runners gather at Lenox Mall to run 6.2 miles south on Peachtree Street in the largest 10K road race in the world. Along the way, they are cheered by almost 150,000 spectators and aided by more than 3,000 dedicated volunteers.

For the elite runners, the race is a chance at prize money and one of the most prestigious titles on the international circuit. For the “weekend warriors” at the middle—or farther back—in the pack, it’s a day to have fun running with friends and family, maybe achieve a personal best time, and earn their own prize: the famed Peachtree T-shirt.

Over the years, Atlanta and its favorite race have grown and changed, but one thing stays the same: Atlanta loves to celebrate the 4^th by having some guests over and “doing Peachtree.”
In 1970, it was a gathering of people from all parts of the City coming together to enjoy their sport and celebrate Independence Day. It still is.
We both beat our last 10k time, so we were happy with that. Now we get to wear the famed t shirt for the rest of the day with pride!
We made the 40th anniversary our inaugural race and hope to participate in many more. What a great tradition to have and how nice to be part of Atlanta history!

A couple pics from the event:

The t shirt design

The line, if you need to pee before the race (in total there were over 700 porta potties for the event!)


Takin off in front of Lenox


Running down Peachtree St.