Peachtree Road Race Success!

This year, my husband Mike and I took part in a classic Atlanta tradition - we ran in the Peachtree Road Race!

For those who don't know, the Peachtree Road Race is the world's largest 10K race.  It is held every year on the 4th of July, following the famous Peachtree Road from Buckhead to Piedmont Park.  This year, over 50,000 people took part, with many people opting to run in festive costumes.  Large crowds of people line the street along the entire route, including bands and DJs playing music.  All in all, it was a boistrous and fun race!

Patriotic runners before the race

Neither Mike or I are big runners, so this was the first 10K for both of us.  Based on our time for the Race for the Cure in early May, we were anticipating finishing in about 1 hour and 15 to 20 minutes.  Definitely not breaking any land speed records there.  Usain Bolt, we are not.  But we were excited for the race nonetheless.  After standing around for what felt like hours, our Start Wave finally made it to the starting line (a full 45 minutes after the Elite runners started and 20 minutes after the Elite runners finished the race!).  The first three miles zipped by in a breeze!  I was amazed at how easily I was able to complete the first half of the race - definitely much improved since May.  At the end of Mile 3, we hit what I have since learned is called "Heart Attack Hill" which we decided was a good time for some water and a short stretch of walking.  Once we hit the top of the hill, we were off running again and only needed one other short walking/water break.  Ultimately, we cruised across the Finish Line with a final time of 1 hour 7 minutes 29 seconds, definitely a personal best! 

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Finishers  #21,127 and 21,128 before the race

All in all, it was a fun way to start the holiday.  We got to cross a true Atlanta tradition off of our "must do" lists and we got to accomplish a pretty big personal challenge as well.  This race didn't have anything to do with raising money for cancer research or anything, but training for this race has been a big part of my training for the Boston 3 Day for the Cure later this month.  For now, though, I am looking forward to giving my running shoes a break and focusing on my training walks for the next few weeks.

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