Summer Running
"Heat, hills, and humidity. Welcome to Atlanta."
Run Atlanta slogan
While summer adds heat to the challenge of running, it also brings time in the schedule for racing. My daughter Lydia and I ran several races over the past couple of months; here are a few of them.
Celebrate America 10K
For Memorial Day, we ran the Celebrate America race at Alpharetta's Northpoint Mall. This 16th annual event was well organized and equipped, making for a smooth race of nearly 900 runners. The course was pleasant - a loop on tree-lined streets around the mall area, with a few rolling hills. The 10K was a double loop, which provided an extra benefit for me: I was able to watch Lydia cross the 5K finish line as I started my second time around. Lydia won her age group in the 5K at 25:00; my 10K time was 53:02.
There were several Memorial Day races in the area, and I'm pleased that we chose this one. We'll watch for it again next year.
ATC Fathers Day 4 Miler
The Atlanta Track Club (ATC) held its annual Fathers Day 4-Miler on Saturday, June 18, the day after Tina and I returned from our 25th anniversary trip. It had the benefits of being free for ATC members and ending inside Turner Field: the Braves home plate area makes a great place for the finish line.
The course was well-planned, through the historic neighborhoods of downtown Atlanta, past Grant Park and the Atlanta Zoo. There were some challenging uphills, but good downhills to recover. I enjoyed running alongside Lydia the entire time and crossing the finish line together. I was proud of her for doing well on the 4 mile distance and hilly course. Our team finished 22nd overall at 36:47.
Peachtree Road Race
No other race matches the excitement of the world's largest 10K. And with 60,000 runners, the 42nd annual Peachtree Road Race was the largest yet. On July 4, Stephen and Lydia ran the Woodstock Freedom Run, while I headed downtown for the Peachtree. Getting there is the hardest part: waking in the darkness of 4:00 am and driving to the nearest Marta rail station before the parking lots fill up.
The new time groups make the crowds manageable: it becomes more like 22 serial races of about 3,000 runners each than a mob of 60K. I was in corral C which, fortunately, is one of the four start waves with access to the starting line area. This provided more space to relax and explore and enjoy the pre-race activity and wheelchair division start.
Another first this year was a flyover by three F-16s to close the national anthem - a flyover at a 10K - how cool is that? That added to the excitement of the start, which continued throughout the race. The entire course is lined with bands, giveaways, spectators (over 100,000), TV and radio stations, costumes, and some unique Independence Day celebrations. As my college "stomping grounds", the route also brought back many memories. All this carried me along so that it felt more like a celebration than a race. I hardly noticed the heat and "cardiac hill."
There's quite a bit of "sideways running" to weave around crowds and dodge fire hoses, so the Peachtree isn't a race for PRs. I kept an even pace and finished at 54:01, par for the Wave C course.
This race just gets better every year, and the current ATC leadership is doing a great job of implementing smart improvements. Taking the AJC's post-race poll revealed a lot of popular suggestions: tweak the start waves for groups, switch to a technical T-shirt, start earlier. But, even if nothing changes, I'll be back next year: me and 60,000 fellow runners.
Etowah River Run
The annual Etowah Swelter River Run balances the benefit of a fast course with the challenge of late July heat. This year, like last, was certainly no exception: race time weather was at 77 degrees with 91% humidity, but that was offset by the signature opening downhill run and flat-as-a-pancake route. This was the third year running it for Lydia and me; she finished first in her age group at 25:06, while I came in at 24:23.
The race held many familiar positives: fast course, helpful volunteers, good local turnout (about 500 runners, including a few cross country teams), nice T-shirt design (a repeat of last year's popular art), valuable and plentiful door prices, and close proximity to home. This year's introduction of D-tag chip timing was a nice improvement. I'd like to see the race start earlier to beat some of the heat, and a technical (rather than cotton) T-shirt would be nice. As in years past, a few runners complained that the course was a little long (from 3.18 to 3.22 miles), but that narrow discrepancy is really only a concern to folks looking for new PRs. We'll be back again next year, pushing the pace against the heat.