Peachtree Pointers

If you ran the Peachtree Road Race with me, you’d grow tired of all the stuff I’d tell told you about the race. It’s fun to discuss now…I can go on and on.

We’ll be able to walk to the start together, since groups 5 and 6 are next to each other, on Peachtree just north of Lenox Road (there will be volunteers and directional signs). Yes, group 5 is a fenced-in area for all those with numbers from 50000 to 59999.

The start is staggered…all the groups wait and are released one group at a time, with about a 5 minute gap between groups. We’ll start a good 30 – 45 minutes after the Kenyans (around 8 or 8:15 am)…so the race will be won by someone before we start!

When we cross the starting line we’ll take note of the race time. There are mile markers placed on telephone poles, with a volunteer calling out the race time…so we can track our mile by mile progress. I’ll be pointing out the mile markers as we near them. My sport watch battery ran out, perhaps I’ll get it replaced before the race.

The start is particularly crowded and slow, and it takes a half mile to thin out (that’s where Will & Dixon will have to be most careful). I’ll outline strategies, like staying to the right, getting behind people moving at the same speed, etc. The course in generally “flat” for the first mile, then downhill the next two. Then we can walk up the hill past Piedmont Hospital, then alternate walking and running on the rolling hills the rest of the way. There’s a big clock at the finish, so we’ll be able to figure our time.

We’ll have a pre-arranged meeting spot for Will and Dixon, along with contingency plans. The meeting spot will probably be right at the base of the awards stage, as that’s were Will needs to be (and it won’t be as crowed there as the “alphabet balloons” will be).

As you’ve probably noticed, the multi-page Instruction Sheet is very informative. It’s a fun read, though 99% of the runners don’t…you can tell!