I finished!!! Woooohooooo!!!! I'd tell you how long it took me to finish, but I forgot to start my watch so I'm guessing it was around 1:25. I ended up with a run/walk, and was totally distracted by everything going on. I can really see why people sign up for this year after year and why people wake up at the crack of dawn just to watch it. Here's how my day went:
I woke up super early to get to the start early. I was in time group 9, so I didn't start the race until just before 9 am, but I wanted to make sure I had parking and what not. Unfortunately this is where I made my biggest mistakes. 1. I didn't bring a banana to the start which meant I started the race hungry. 2. I parked too far away from the MARTA (Atlanta's mass transit) station which necessitated a long walk back from the finish.
The race was packed! I mean, it's one thing to know there's 55,000 people there, and another to experience it. Luckily the Atlanta Track Club, who puts on the event annually, knows how to handle this and we didn't have many problems with crowds. There were people there from all walks of life. Walkers, runners, and attention grabbers. I saw a guy in a purple body suit- a full body suit! - a bride with a veil, a group of guys as chip and dales, and guys in all pink raising funds for breast cancer research. I'm sure there were many more that I missed, but it was a lot of fun looking for those people. The spectators were hilarious too.
I will post pictures as soon as I have more. I have a couple pre-race pictures but want to see how the post-race pictures look. I'll have to order those.
All in all, this was an awesome experience. If you ever consider running the Peachtree, I'd recommend adopting the mindset of being a participant in a spectacle of fun, not racing. I think if you take yourself too seriously with the run you risk missing out on all the crazy shenanigans that make the Peachtree so unique.
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