Peachtree Road Race

So, we did it! Actually, Patrick has been running races for months now, but I haven't! So, I guess I should say, "I did it!" We got up at the crack of dawn....well, several hours before dawn actually....4:45am! We were out the door at 5:10am and on MARTA (the Atlanta version of a subway) by about 5:40am. Of course, all this being-there-2-hours-before-the-start-of-the-race business was my husband's idea. We got to the race before the sun came up! So, then we just hung out and relaxed until the start! Here's a picture Patrick took with his phone of us on MARTA!

There were 55,000 people who ran this race! That's a lot of people in one place! Here's a pic of our starting corral!

We were in the second group to start, so we crossed the start line about 6 1/2 mins after the official start of the race. (People in the last group started more than 1 1/2 hours after the official start of the race! That's how long it took for everyone to get across the start line)! So, anyway, we were into the race for about 1 mile when Patrick had to take a bathroom break!!! I mean, COME ON!! One mile?!?! But, he was really fast, and I think we lost about 20 seconds or so! I did pretty well (and by "pretty well," I mean "didn't die") until we got to the top of what's known as "Cardiac Hill" at the end of mile 4! Ugh! I had to walk after that thing...we walked for about 60 seconds while I got the feeling back in my legs and then we finished the rest of the race running. At the beginning of 5 miles, I thought....no WAY will I be able to finish this thing running! But, somehow I made it. Patrick, of course, was easy breezy running and was a few feet ahead of me the entire race! He could have ran the whole thing without the I-need-to-feel-my-legs-again walking break...but he was very supportive and stuck with me the entire race.

The Peachtree is a race that has spectators the entire way. People are actually out there in their tailgaiting chairs with their coffee, coke, beer....whatever! We passed many people who were handing out water, fruit, etc....but the best part were the people holding beer out for the runners! Budlight, PBR, Natty, all those yummy beers! At the end...when we were all running up hill to finish the race, runners started taking these beers, popping them open, and drinking while they were running!!! The guys holding the beer would say, "come get your vitamins" while holding the can out for us to get! Crazy! We passed all the bars in Buckhead and Midtown, and of course, there were people there, bright and early, spectating from the sidelines with their Bloody Mary's in hand. It at least gave us many interesting things to watch! Here's Patrick and me after finishing the race!

They had people taking pictures of the the finishers about 50 yards before the finish line. Here's a link to the site with some pics of Patrick and me. You have to click on the pic to see it a little bigger!

Overall, it was really fun and I'm really glad I did it. We'll do it again next year. Maybe we'll make a family tradition out of it!