Finally: The 2020 Peachtree Road Race

 

Saturday November 28, 2020. I ran finally the Peachtree Road Race this morning. The ”virtual” Peachtree Road Race. Not in Atlanta, but in Jefferson South Carolina. The original July 4 race was moved to Thanksgiving, then changed to a virtual race. Then the window to run was expanded from one day to the entire weekend.

With large family meals on Thursday and Friday, I waited until Saturday morning to run. Temperatures have been unseasonably warm, and a brief rain shower passed through by ten. I pulled on a short sleeve black Nike dri-fit tee over my white long sleeve Nike dri-fit tee, dri fit Under Armour shorts, my blue Hoka Bondi running shoes, and white Sonic the Hedgehog socks. Also my black Macon Bacon cap. Normally I don’t wear a cap to run, but it was still a little chilly (55 degrees) and wet. I also wore my glasses. I usually don’t, but wanted to be able to operate the app, check my heartrate, and make sure of the race distance and time.

At 10:18 am I activated the PTRR app on my phone, then my Apple Watch, and I was off. Down the driveway and north on North Lee Street for a block, then east, then south on the easternmost street in the Jefferson checkboard of streets. Crossed the main east west highway and continued south, then west up the hill back to Lee Street, Right on Lee back north, past the house, following Lee Street as it curved left, up to Main Street.

My first mile was my fastest, despite stopping to snap a picture of the water tower. I headed south on Main through the heart of downtown, snapping pictures. Above: downtown.

Above: First Baptist Church, where we got married.

Below: Mr. Miller’s old grocery store. 

Below: the Golden Nugget restaurant, where we've eaten plenty a meal over the years. Should’ve snapped a picture of Honey’s gas station, but I hurried past since the station was probably full of local men discussing the issues of the day.

Turned right at the Methodist church, then continued to make right and left and right turns, running/walking on just about every street in town. I slowly made my way from east Jefferson to the west side of town.

Snapped a picture of Bette Ingram’s house (above), where we’d had a wedding shower back in the day. Bette passed away a couple of month's ago, and this week her sons had stopped by to go through things. The morning clouds were clearing, and the cap kept the sun out of my eyes. Looped around the old ball field, now given over to weeds.

Passed a stand of young pine trees, then realized they were growing in and around the remains of an old metal grandstand. 

From there the road turned back left through a picturesque wood, back to the main road. I enjoyed this loop so much that toward the end of my 6.2 miles, needing extra ground to cover I made the same loop again. In general I tried not to retrace my steps, but there were a couple of questions.

Spied a tiny black kitten checking me out, so I stopped to say hello. Not much traffic out on the Jefferson streets, allowing me to run on the most level side of the street. Waved hello to most of of the drivers passing by. Passed one walker on Main Street just north of downtown. Said hello to the one lady sitting out on her front porch. Quite a change from the thousands lining the six miles of the Peachtree. 

I didn’t listen to music, book, or podcast during my run. That’s not my thing. I’d rather listen to nature (and for approaching cars). Plenty of birds, including the huge buzzards - first watching from the water tower, and later circling something in the distance. Lots of barking dogs, though none threatened my life.

 

Plenty of time to think, not only on what’s going on, but also about past Peachtrees. Thought of Jimmy Light, whose string of Peachtrees has come to an end after his recent knee replacement surgery. I decided to dedicate my Peachtree to Jimmy, whatever that means.

 

There was no throng of runners to use as an excuse for my poor time. Far fewer hills than the regular Peachtree course. The longer north to south streets of Jefferson were generally flat. I tried to maintain my admittedly slow pace, trying to speed it up as I closed in on each mile marker on my watch. But as the miles piled up I could feel my left hip tightening up. My form had to change, from sprints to a trot to almost a waddle. Considering the hip, my time was decent. Without that discomfort I might’ve bettered last years’ time, which had been my fastest in several years.

I could tell early on that the PTRR app tracked the miles slower than my watch. As I neared the finish it appeared my watch showed 2/10ths of a mile to go, while the app showed 4/10ths. But not long after I stopped my watch after 6.21 miles, and saved the workout, I looked at the app and saw my race was complete there as well. But my watch said I’d covered the 6.2 miles a full six minutes faster than the app said. Not sure why – the GPS I suppose. Hopefully I can post the faster of the two times. 

So my 33rd Peachtree is in the books. For the record I’ve run 31 straight, every year since 1990. A couple of years I missed out on the lottery and had to secure a number by other means. Twice in the 80’s I volunteered for the race, working at the finish line inside Piedmont Park, before the finish line moved to 10th Street near Grady High.

 

Sadly the virtual Peachtree was far less fun, not at all the great experience the “real” Peachtree always is. But as I say every year, every Peachtree is different – always an adventure. Sure hope next year we get to do it together next year.