Thursday, July 4, 2013

A Peachy race

Another Peachtree Road Race is complete.
This was my 12th running of the Atlanta classic 10K, and I thought it was going to be my wettest, but the rain held off until nearly all of the race was done.
I even brought that rain poncho from the Country Music Half Marathon, and that must have been the lucky charm. Instead of wearing it, I had to carry it the whole way.
My race number
The race started out with my running in to my friend Julie at the Avondale Estates MARTA station.
Me and Julie
I met up with my running buddy Jessica and we slowly made our way to the start line. We started a good hour after the official start, because our wave was pretty far back.
Jessica and me waiting to start
At long last, we got up to the start line.
Old Glory

Ready to start
 Once we got on our way, there is always fun things to see. Sometimes it is the runners, spectators watching the race, or things along the race.
Along the route
 Every year as the runners go by St. Philips Episcopal Cathedral along Peachtree, the church arranges a holy water spray.
The holy water spray
 But just in case, there is also a priest there to give a little sprinkle. I always get a drop or two.
Holy water for all!
The race was actually pretty good this year. Since it was overcast, it didn't feel so hot. It was humid, but at least I didn't feel overheated. I think we can guess how Jessica felt about the race:
Having some fun along the race course
 At long last we arrived at Piedmont Park.
We finished!
 What these photos don't really show is how muddy the park's meadow, the staging area for the finish, was. All that rain we've had made the meadow more like a swamp. It didn't help that 60,000 runners and even more volunteers were trampling all over it. I've got quite a bit of dirt on my running shoes now.
Our ultimate prize -- the Peachtree Road Race T-shirt
And this is why I run:
My ultimate prize
So, today, which I feared was going to be a wash out, turned out to be a pretty wonderful Peachtree Road Race.

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