Peachtree Road Race

The Peachtree Road Race is certainly an event that needs to be experienced at least once. It is a huge crowd that younger runners like Will enjoy. This will be my 20th Peachtree. I was about ready to hang it up, but now Will wants to run every year. This will be his 4th time.

Even entering the race is an event. The application appears in the Sunday AJC in March. The first 45,000 applications are accepted, then the final 10,000 slots are drawn from all the remaining applications that come in over the next week. Many go through the annual ritual of buying a copy of the Sunday AJC when it hits newsstands Saturday, and mailing the applications at a Post Office with Saturday pickup. I've gotten in every year, knock on wood.

Runners are randomly divided into ten time groups and the race has a staggered start. The Kenyan that wins the race in about 28 minutes actually finishes before thousands of runners even start the race! There is a good chance the Murphys and Broadwells won't be in the same time group, but whoever is in the earliest group can move back.

If you want to watch, our old church at the two-mile mark is a great spot. Ceil used to go, but lately has watched on TV. The Braves are unfortunately on the road the week of the Fourth, for the first time in many years.