4th Of July in Atlanta – The Peachtree Road Race

It's become a tradition for me, my mom, and my sister each year.  In fact, this year was my and my mom's ninth year running the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race. There have only been 2 years I didn't actually go to Atlanta -- 2020 when everyone ran it virtually, and 2021 when you had the option of in-person or virtual. But I still ran it, one year on the treadmill, the other on the Greeneway in North Augusta!

The Peachtree Road Race is always a fun morning in Downtown Atlanta.  We get up super early and head to Atlanta. In recent years, we've started meeting my mom and sister at the Indian Creek MARTA Station.  You would think after this many years, we would know how to navigate the MARTA system... but every year we have to check the maps to see which stop we have to get off on!

While we were on the MARTA, we were talking about our emergency contacts.  On the back of your race bib, it has a place to write your emergency contact.  I mentioned that I hadn't filled mine out, but if I fall, my Apple Watch is supposed to notify my emergency contact.  As I'm somewhat joking about it, this guy turns around and says how important it is to have that info... because he was the guy who suffered cardiac arrest at the Peachtree Road Race last year!

How crazy is it that I'd just seen that article about him?!  He had a heart attack at the race last year... and he was back to run again this year.  MAD props to this guy, because I feel like I would have major PTSD after suffering from a medical emergency like that! What an amazing story.

We successfully got ourselves to the Lenox stop near the start line and made our way to the starting waves.  I was technically in wave G, but we didn't quite make it early enough for me to get started with that wave.  But, thankfully, you can start in any wave after yours.  Honestly, I'm not really sure which wave I actually started in!  There were so many people with various letters on their bibs.  Either way, I got ready to toe the start line.

One of my favorite things about the start line?  The HUGE American flag that hangs up there.  It's a beautiful sight!  This year, much like mine and my mom's first year, the sky was overcast. But if I'm being honest, I was pretty happy about that!  It definitely helps with the heat that I'd been really nervous about.

Once we got started, we weren't even a quarter of a mile in when it started to sprinkle.  Just a moment later the rain really started coming down.  And no one was mad about it! You could actually hear rejoicing!  The only thing is... I kinda wish it had waited til later in the race.

It stayed overcast the whole race, and I actually ran the majority of the race.  And that includes part of Cardiac Hill! I was very proud of myself.

One thing I love about doing this 10K, you've got so much to see along the route.  Plus, you're running with like 50,000 people!  If you're a people watcher like me, you'd definitely love it! Also, there are so many fun things happening along the route too!  I saw people handing out beer, Jell-O shots, bananas, and more. I was really thankful for the adorable little girl who gave me a popscicle around the 3 1/2 mile mark!

The spectators are just as awesome as the runners!  They make great signs and cheer you the whole way.  You'll also hear radios blaring or see actual live performers too! So much fun.

My official time was one hour and 7 minutes.  I don't think it was my fastest, but it was pretty close.  And it was also 2 minutes faster than I ran it last year.  Definitely proud of that, especially since I felt like I hadn't trained well.

Once you cross the finish line, they usher you into Piedmont Park.  That's where you can grab some water, pick up your T-shirt, and meet up with family and friends.  Plus, there are some photo ops too.  David and I didn't hang out too long, because we were ready to get back on the road to Augusta.  But I did grab a fresh peach, sampled some Chick-fil-A peach lemonade, and picked up some other hydration.  They even had reps from Alani Nu there (my favorite energy drink these days).  They've got a Rocket Pop flavor... and let me tell you, it's one of my new favorite flavors!

Overall, it was a great day in Atlanta.  The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race will always be my favorite 10K.  I'll be honest though... I wasn't sure about it before the first time we ran!  At that point, my mom and I had only done 5Ks, and I thought I'd never do anything more than that.  It's funny to think about that... since I've run numerous 10Ks, a few 15Ks, and even 5 half marathons!

Enjoy some photos from my 4th of July... and I hope you and your family had a fantastic 4th as well!