Peachtree Road Race Recap

I was finally able to run the Peachtree Road Race. It is the biggest running event in Atlanta. I've heard a few people say it's the biggest 10k in the world, but there may be another one out there somewhere that's bigger. All I know is there was a massive hoard of people there. A little over 55,000 people finished it.

It started off with the National Anthem. I was standing right beneath the massive American Flag and the coolest part was a fly-over by some Air Force Fighter planes just as they were finishing the Anthem. I serious almost cried, it was so cool. I was feeling very patriotic.

I was lucky enough to start in the first group to go. I was lined up in the middle of the A group, right behind the elite runners and sub-seeded runners. I didn't have to walk at all to start. I guess that was the beauty of the staggered starts. It only took me about 35 seconds from the gun to cross the starting line and I had a nice running start.

The first 3 miles are pretty easy, I tried not to burn myself out too bad. I finished the first three miles in 21:46 (7:13 mile one, 7:15 mile two, 7:19 mile three). That was probably my best 3 mile split time ever. I have usually always been focused on running longer distances, and have never pushed myself to run a fast 5k. I usually start off slow and end up running quicker mile splits later on usually mile 6 or so, but in a 10k you have to have a different mindset.

Right after you cross mile 3, you enter what's nicknamed "cardiac hill," the quickest elevation rise in the race. After that, it's mostly gradual uphill the next 2.25 miles. By this point, I was feeling the heat and humidity a bit and I lost a bit of time. Mile 4 was 8:24, mile 5 was 8:07, then after I finally got over the hill I finished mile 6 at a 7:29. I tried to pick it up a bit at the finish, but I knew I wasn't going to get my PR so I didn't hit it as much as I could have and ended up finishing in 48:04 approximately 7:45 min/mile average.

(Eating my official peach after finishing!)

Official Results

Distance	10K
Clock Time	48:39
Chip Time	48:04
Overall Place	2380 / 55090
Gender Place	1996 / 28385
Division Place	221 / 2394
Age Grade	55.9%

Eliza and the boys met me after the finish. I was silly and didn't see the huge balloons in the family meeting area. So they waited for me for about an hour, until I finally figured out where it was. I had been waiting in a different area that I thought was the family meeting area, but it ws the missing persons area. I wasn't delirious from the race, just dumb. There were a ton of people there though.

I have the best fans in the world!

No, I didn't wear five fingers in this race. My last pair just ripped a hole in the toe and I haven't worn my new pair yet, so I used these Nike shoes instead. They are super light weight and still technically minimalist-type shoes.

Now it's on to training for some more races. I am planning on doing the Thanksgiving Half Marathon again to see if I can improve my time and me and Eliza are also signed up to do a 5k in September together. Eliza is also planning on running a half marathon with a lot of her family in October while we will be visiting them. I still haven't decided if I will be running it or not. There is a Utah football game that same day and it is the only home game they will have while we will be visiting, so it will depend on the start time of that game.

Lastly, to supplement our training we just ordered a triple jogging stroller this evening. We're excited to get it. We're planning on training together a bit more and get Eliza ready for this half marathon!