I had set up my mp3 player at 4-5 minutes of walking cadence followed by one minute of run cadence. I only missed my run portions a couple of times, once on Cardiac Hill where I was just focused on one foot in front of the other, and another when the run came right at a portion when I was pushing so hard on the walk, that I almost puked.

I should not have worried so much about being last. I was no where near that. In fact, I had gotten my water, my t-shirt, met up with friends, got our picture taken and we were on our way back to the train and tons of people were still coming across the finish line.

When I realized I was no where near the back of the pack, I was half tempted to ease up on the pace, but I pushed as hard as I could because it was a race after all, at least with myself. Considering how little running I have been able to do because of shin splints, I was totally happy with my pace. It could probably have been even faster if not for having to stop and take off my socks and all the weaving through the crowd.

Not get my feet wet so early on. The water stations were rivers, along with everyone spraying water along the course. My socks got wet at the first water station that I hit at mile one. By mile two I could feel the blisters forming on the balls of my feet. By mile three I stopped to strip my socks and finished without them, but I did not take them off soon enough and each step was a painful one with running almost unbearable by mile 5.

After crossing the finish line, we were herded into Piedmont Park first through the water line, then through the t-shirt line. After that I walked across the park to meet the rest of the folks from work at our balloon. From there, we headed out of the park through the Powerade line, and then made our 30 minute trek back to the train station, all uphill I should add. Crammed train ride back to the North Springs station, from there we met up at IHOP to pig out. I got home sometime after 1 p.m. at which point PRSS was in full swing. I soaked in a sea salt bath for about 20 minutes followed by a hot shower and a nap. All of that was not enough, I was sore all night and am still incredibly sore today.


Lack of training was a big limiter. I did this race only six weeks into my tri training, and just a couple of months after deciding I was tired of being a couch potato and I had not even walked 10K on a training day, much less run/walk for over and hour and half. I cannot wait to try it again with a year under my belt. Also it did not help I am still having issues with the shin splints.


Amazing is only one word of many that comes to mind when describing this race. This was my first Peachtree, and I had not understood the hype of this race going into it. People were buying numbers online for $300. I was thinking just to get the coveted t-shirt at the end? I used to live in Buckhead and have driven Peachtree Street more times than I can count, but what a different animal it was on race day. Six miles of festivity is the best way to put it. Bands playing, people cheering, thousands of people running the same race as you, and it seemed almost as many were cheering you on.

I made a point to thank as many volunteers as I had breath for. I waved at everyone who waved at me. I tried to make a special point to wave to the disabled people along the route. Out front of the hospital there was a lady who looked like she was status post left sided stroke. Her nurse was with her, and she was in a wheel chair and had a gown on. I waved and waved until she saw me and she broke out with a grin. It was worth all the pain of the race just for that.

Out in front of one of the churches they were spraying holy water (which I avoided in case I burst into flame) and the priests were anointing racers with holy water and giving blessings to those who stopped for it. I found all that quite humorous.

There was so much more along the race route: radio stations with their vans broadcasting, people handing out all kinds of stuff, average Joes in their lawn chairs with signs of encouragement. One of my fav sightings was of the Atlanta Greyhound Racer Rescue group that had a bunch of retired greyhounds there to encourage the runners. There were thousands of volunteers, not to mention the police closing off over six miles of downtown Atlanta for several hours. The Peachtree definitely lived up to its reputation as the world's largest 10K.