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! 

F

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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Atlanta Race for the Cure!

This morning, Mike and I woke up bright and early to make our way to Atlantic Station for the 20th Anniversary Atlanta Race for the Cure!

The banner announcing the event

In the past, Mike and I have had to wrestle our way through the large crowds before the event to pick up our race numbers.  This year we actually registered online far enough in advance that we received all of our race material ahead of time.  Because of that, we were able to relax before the race and soak in the atmosphere of the event.  Teams large and small were milling about, trying to get themselves organized before the start of the race.  It was a lot of fun checking out all of the pink gear and team t-shirts on the thousands of people around us.

Mike and I before the Race for the Cure (L) and one of the larger teams at the race (R)

One of the highlights of the morning was finally getting to meet Julie of the Two Pink Chicks Fo(u)r Boobs team for the Breast Cancer 3 Day.  Julie and I have been chatting on Twitter a lot, so it was great to finally meet her person.  Hopefully, we'll be able to meet up to do some 3 Day training walks in the near future.  She needs to show me around the 'burbs and I need to give her a tour of Intown Atlanta!

Julie and I before the Race for the Cure.

Around 8:15am, Mike and I made our way towards the actual starting line for the race.  In the past, we've been content to walk the course, so staying back in the pack of 17,000 people was okay.  But this year, we wanted to take it up a notch and actually run this thing.  So we worked our way up towards the starting line.  There were still thousands of people in front of us, but at least we were able to run.

The mass of people at the starting line, in the shadow of Midtown Atlanta

The race itself went pretty well.  We were able to run for most of the race without having to take too many walking breaks.  We ended up finishing in 34 minutes and 40 seconds, my fastest 5K time so far.  Mike pushed me to run a little faster than I usually run, which definitely helped.  It was also fun to read the backs of everyone's t shirts during the race.  Next year, I'm running the whole thing and I'm going to do it in less than 30 minutes!

After we finished the race, we headed into the Expo area to grab some water and our Race for the Cure t-shirts.  I was particularly excited to get my first Race for the Cure shirt with the new design.  We also grabbed a quick snack from Skinny Cow (YUM!) and checked out a number of the vendors and sponsor booths.  I was particularly excited to get this year's Ford Warriors in Pink scarf, something I look forward to every year.

Susan G. Komen loves Jazzercise! (L) and a picture of the Expo area after the Race (R)

Unfortunately, Mike wasn't feeling too well, so we weren't able to stay at the Expo for very long.  He was a real trooper, though, and fought through his terrible head cold to run the race with me.  I would have been much slower without him, so I was really touched that he still ran even though he felt so crappy.

All in all, it was a great morning at the Race for the Cure and even though Mike wasn't feeling well, I am calling it a success!

Feeling victorious back at the car after the race!

If you would like to see more pictures from the Race for the Cure please visit this album on my Picasa page.  I have also included a slide show after the jump that you can see by clicking "Read More" at the bottom of this post.  Pardon the quality of the images, I had to take them on my cell phone.

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