We--Harry, Jen, and Harrison (Hannah was in Ohio with relatives, or she'd have been there, too)--ran the Peachtree Road Race in downtown Atlanta on the morning of the 4th of July. It's 6.2 miles of pavement and people. The race starts at Lenox mall and ends at Piedmont Park on 10th street in downtown Atlanta. It is the largest road race in the United States with 55, 000 participants! But it is SO much fun!The race is a competition from the moment of sign-up. You have to get an Atlanta Journal and Constitution newspaper the second Sunday in March, fill it out, and race to get it sent in. Only the first 55,000 people get a number. There are 9 time groups. Traditionally, there has been a limited number of t-shirts. The t-shirt clock starts the second the last person crosses the start line and counts down from 75 minutes. Everyone finishing before the clock runs out gets a t-shirt. So, the object is to try and get in a lower number time group to increase the likelihood that you will get a t-shirt. So, what time group you get is a status symbol and people will pay dearly for a lower time group number. All this before the race even starts! This year was a little different, though. Everyone got a t-shirt and everyone got a time chip for their shoe. Qualifying for a lower time group could be done at the race itself this year. A little anti-climatic, but a little more diplomatic.
Harry and I submitted our half-marathon times and were lucky enough to be put in time group 2. Harrison runs MUCH faster than us. We were hoping that he would get in a much later time group--maybe TG 6 or 7--to give us a chance to get the finish-line before he had to wait by himself in Piedmont Park (scary), but they put him in TG 3. So much for him not being alone in the park. We gave him specific instructions as to where to meet us, etc... in addition to arming him with his cell phone in case of emergency. The mere thought of my baby being in Piedmont Park alone would be enough to drive me to the finish line in a more timely manner.
On 4th of July, we arose at 5am and were on the road by 5:30am. Harrison was a little groggy from the Whitewater Rafting trip he took the day before with the Scouts.We let him take a little snooze in the car seeing as how this was his first 10k race and the largest race he's participated in to date. We parked at Harry's office building at Techw
ood (on 10th street). We then walked about a half mile to the MARTA station and rode a train to the Buckhead station. We got off and walked another half mile to where we would split off and go our separate ways to the starting corrals. With the exception of a sporting event, it's hard to imagine 55,000 people all in one place for one purpose. Here's a little glimpse of what it looked like from the starting corral of TG 2 looking towards the starting corral of TG 3.
Our time group started right at 7:36 am. We crossed the start line and we were off. Harry and I were a little more casual this year than 3 years ago. Neither one of us were using this as a training race. So, we decided to kick back, take some pictures, and enjoy the race.
Here we are at mile 3...the half-way point.
The beginning and top of Cardiac Hill. It's a 1 1/2 mile incline. Piedmont Hospital is at the top of the hill. It's no accident that there is a medical tent at the top. We also passed by the Spinal Injury Center. There were TONS of onlookers in wheelchairs, braces, and halos. It really got to Harry and I. We were so grateful to be actually running in the race rather than watching from their chairs. We were encouraged by their courage to be there and cheer on the runners.
We took a little picture break at about mile 5...things were still good. We were a little sore, but nothing bad. We got a text from Harrison saying he finished the race in 52:19! HOLY COW!!! The heat was getting pretty intense and we knew we needed to get to the finish line to meet Harrison. It made me nervous to think he was there by himself. So, we kicked it up a little....not a good idea apparently.
We had been walking and got to the 6 mile marker. I told Harry that I have NEVER walked across a finish line and I didn't intend to start now. So, we started jogging. We went under the photo bridge and things started to get bad for me from there. I started to feel a twinge in my left knee (an old IT Band injury from my half-marathon training days). I ignored it. Then, I started to get a cramp in my left foot where the plantar fascia is. I ignored that, too. That's when my right calf seized up in a charlie horse, the cramp in my foot went into full throttle, and my left knee gave out. I literally limped over the finish line. I was immediately grabbed by a medical tech and whisked off to the medical tent. They pumped me full of Powerade, put a cold towel around my neck, and got a physical therapy technician to come over and look at me. I endured 20 minutes of agonizing stretching trying to get the muscles to stop spasming. Then, I laid there for another 10 minutes with ice saran wrapped onto my knee. There was no need to worry about Harrison. He found us in the medical tent. The med techs got us our t-shirts and told us to take our time. They were so wonderful. Thank you so much to Kara, Amy, and Alice! After I recovered we headed into Piedmont Park and started walking the 1-1 1/2 miles back to Turner Broadcasting to our car. I can hardly move today, but it was worth every step!
You can see the crowd at Piedmont Park and the ice pack on my knee. It was fun and we'll definitely do it again!
1 comment:
Wow! I am in awe, you guys did a great job! Congratulations!
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