This morning I got up earlier than should be legal and made my way to my Dad's house at 5AM to catch the train to the Peachtree Road Race. An Atlanta tradition, it is the world's largest 10k with 55,000 runners. They implemented a new wave start this year and while I couldn't tell much different towards the front, I am sure it made for less congestion for the corrals in the back. What I did notice was that they started each wave individually. Instead of doing one start for the entire race, they started corral A, waited a few minutes gave corral B a start and so on. I was running from the start and didn't feel like I was dodging people as much as usual so thumbs up for the new system.
In a race with 55,000 runners I generally am surprised if I ever run into anyone I know. Today was unique in that I easily saw 10 friends before the start. Most were in my corral so I guess that narrowed my chances of bumping into friends, I suppose. A nice surprise to have friends to chat with while waiting for the start.
All in all, a great race. I wasn't really going to get a PR but just to enjoy the run. I was amazed at how quickly the miles went by I was at mile 4 before I knew it. If only my marathons could be that way. You know, "oh wow, you mean we are already at mile 22...how did that happen". One can dream.
A few sights from the day...
Dad hydrating up while we waited for his walking buddy near the start.
My view from the start.
Flyover after the singing of the star spangled banner.
My corral mates, Meg and Janice.
I bumped into a fellow Marathon sponsored athlete pre-race. Readers, meet Alexa. :)
The course is lined from start to finish with specatators. Some areas are more crowded than others. Here are a couple of sweet ladies decked out for the day.
The Chick-fil-A cows. A lot of the restaurants along the route come out in full force from hosting bands out front to pumping t-shirts out of cannons to the runners. It really is such a fun atmosphere! This is the original rock n roll race.
Uncle Sam was my pacer for a mile or two. He is cool like that. A real giver. He was flanked by two friends carrying very large flags. So I felt like I was in a parade for a bit.
Post race, everyone headed to t-shirt pick up.
Theh t-shirt deisgn is a closely guarded secret that is not revealed until race day. They have a contest prior to the race to pick the design. They narrow it down to maybe 5 designs and allow everyone to vote. It always fun when you go to pick up to see which design won.
Blogworld, meet Jason the second Marathon athlete I met today.
Pre-race as we were contemplating where to meet up post race, Dad says, "meet me by the food". Yeah right. Luckily we narrowed that down to something a little more specific. Check out the family reunion area.
You can see where someone might have a little trouble without a specific meeting point.
This year at the finish Publix was handing out peaches. A little unusual even for the PEACHtree Road Race which is held in the PEACH state.
And when the Peachtree Road Race hands you peaches, you make Peach Cobbler :)
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup plus 3 T sugar (divided)
1 cup flour
2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 cup milk
1 t vanilla
6 peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 t cinnamon
Heat oven to 375. Pour melted butter into 8-inch square pan. Combine 1 cup of the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Add milk and vanilla. Pour batter into pan on top of butter. Toss the peaches with 3 T sugar and cinnamon. Layer on top of batter. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
8 comments:
Sounds like a great race to run, i made my first cobbler a couple weeks ago and your pic is making me wish i made one today. :)
Nice job! Fourth of July races are so much fun. I can't imagine 55,000 runners, though, I think the most I've "run with" was around 30,000 and that seemed huge.
Great race! Sounds like a fun, I have heard many stories about this one over the years. I love the 'Marathon' outfits, you look super! Cheers!
yummm that cobbler!! making me want dessert now, thanks ;)
i always hear about the peachtree up here in sc, but have never been down to experience the craziness. you look great in your marathon jersey!
Hi, I'm new to your blog!
Sounds like a super fun race and looks like you had a lot of fun!
How many beautiful pictures, it seems to be there! It is difficult to get a PB in the middle of 55000 runners, the start is always too slow despite the corrals.
Looks like you've had a fantastic time.
Good thing you chose a real meating point. Lol.
That's a race I've long to do, I just wonder if I'd melt in Altanta in July! I do the ING half there every year and love Atlanta! Nice job on the race, girl. And oh my, that peach cobbler looks awesome!!
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