The Peachtree Road Race {40×41}

Well, we did it y’all… we finished the 46th annual Peachtree Road Race!!!!!!! It’s the largest 10k in the world and an Independence Day tradition for Atlantans!! I’ve lived here for twenty-one years (gulp) and Honey has been here his whole life so it was high time we gave it a go.

 

We were up at 5:45, which is a feat in and of itself for Honey. His mama came over to watch the littles and we left the house around 6am. We drove to MARTA and took the train into Buckhead. The countless MARTA employees, police men and volunteers were just lovely, wishing everyone a great run and a happy 4th of July at every turn. We got to the corrals around 7:30 and were FREEZING cold from the rain…on the 4th of July. We didn’t bring any gear, but plenty of people were ditching theirs as they started the race so I may or may not have ended up with a second hand umbrella and poncho. :-) The weather was pretty atrocious, ranging from full on downpours to a constant drizzle but it didn’t damper the patriotism or high spirits of the 60,000 or so runners. A giant American flag hangs at the start line and, before we knew it, we were off!

We ran on the Coca-Cola team and had a lot of fun spotting coworkers and friends along the course. There were quite a few!! The 6.2 miles went pretty quickly, as it was fun to walk by local landmarks and hangouts from our college days, and there were some real characters out on the course that keep us laughing.

We walked the entire route, keeping about a 12.5 minute pace and stopping for water and potty breaks six or so times. Not too bad! I did break out in a run at about .4 miles to the finish line. Honey says “Are you trying to make a certain time or something?” NO!!!! I’m trying to be D.O.N.E. I was tired and DRENCHED and the end was so close I could taste it. Right before we crossed the finish line, the lady next to me pulled out her phone and I hear “Daddy? Daddy! I did it. I’m going to cross the finish line.” I, of course, start tearing up at witnessing this moment of accomplishment, pride and pure love. I wanted to hug her neck. Congrats, mystery lady!!!!!!!!! We made our way through the mud pit that was Piedmont Park, got the coveted finisher t-shirts and headed to the Coke tent for breakfast.

I am so thankful to Honey for being so encouraging, for sticking with me through it all, for not running off and leaving me and for being my best partner in crime every time I have a nutty idea. (“Nutty” for him would cover anything that requires waking up before 10AM on a weekend.) We had a lot of fun, we tackled something new together and we crossed another one off our 40×41 (and 40×42) bucket lists. 8 down, 32 to go!!

When we got back home, Honey’s mama took the boys out to a long lunch so that we could shower and catch our breaths. It was a much needed respite for a couple of hours!

With that, it’s time to start figuring which thing to tackle next!

xoxo

By dixiedelights | Filed under Uncategorized | Tags: , ,

7 thoughts on “The Peachtree Road Race {40×41}”

  1. Congratulations! What an accomplishment! I'm really glad to hear a recap from someone who walked the route, even though you are a runner. It's never even occurred to me to think about doing the Peachtree and walk it if I want to. This is very encouraging and it might finally make it's way to my bucket list. Are there a lot of people who walk it?

    1. There were all shapes and sizes of people doing everything from walking to wogging to full on running. I didn't feel odd at all! Everyone was very friendly and it was fun!

  6. We ran it and had a great time too! I would much rather the cool, rainy weather than humid and 90 degrees – which some years it has been! Congrats!

Comments are closed.