This is the largest 10K in the U.S. with 55,000 people registered.
Really, is there another 10K race anywhere else in the world that's bigger?
I ran my second 10K race ever and finished with an official time of 1:09:33. I guess I expected the slow pace with so many people in my time group. I was hoping for around 60 minutes flat but the whole 6.2 miles was bottlenecked and crowded from beginning to end. I finally found my rhythm the last mile and a half and I practically sprinted to the finish line. The weather was decent with unusually low humidity (60%) considering this is Georgia in July. It was about 75 degrees and sunny at 8:30 AM.
Mile 1: I was in the last time group, my number was in the 90,000s. The winners have already arrived an hour before our group even got moving. I was taking it all in, trying to relax with all the noise around me: announcements, radio stations live broadcasting, live bands playing, TV coverage, helicopters flying above and the crowds yelling on top of all the cacophony. "Beat It" was pumping from one of the stages. Later I thought I should have worn the white glove on one hand for MJ. Closed my eyes for a second of reflection. We crossed the starting line with the giant American flag flying above Lenox mall around 8:58. We were all walking for about 100 yards. I was trying hard to avoid stepping on the heels of people in front of me.
Mile 2: I was in the midst of 10,000 walkers/joggers/runners/talkers. Some guy was talking loudly on his cell phone next to me. It seems like I was running in place for about 15 minutes. I was weaving around slower runners and walkers and people talking on their Blackberries or iPhone. Seriously, now. I took my first cup of water on the left sidewalk. There was a holy water spray station at the Cathedral of St. Philip on the right side. The water felt great on my backside. I glanced at my stopwatch 25:09. Ridiculous, man! A kid ran past me on the right side and I followed him. All of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks, I braked abruptly to avoid running into him and swerved around him. Dang kids, I should have known.
Mile 3: Jogging pace now, still way too slow but I'm enjoying some blues band playing on the right sidewalk. "American Woman, Get away from me..." I skipped the water station and marched on, preparing for "Cardiac Hill" or as some local runners call it "HeartBreak Hill". It was not that bad but some older folks were huffing and puffing in front of Piedmont Hospital, which is close to the top of the hill. There were even more walkers now. I see another SuperMan and a few more WonderWoman with their completed capes and wigs. Uncle Sams were everywhere too. I saw some Clark Howard headbands on the ground, actually lots of them. I found out later that he was running in my time group and was giving out free headbands for everyone.
Mile 4: I stopped briefly to get some watermelon slices and water from the Whole Foods/ West Stride running store tent. I got an instant boost of energy and started to pick up the pace hoping to make up for the previous 3 miles. I am now beginning to RUN at my comfortable pace. There were still too many people walking on the left side of the road. I decided to run on the yellow dividing lines in the middle of Peachtree Street. There were a few older men walking or slow motion running-if you know what I mean. More water sprays and kids were shooting water cannons into the crowd. I was wondering where were the beer and doughnuts people talked about when we get to this point. A cold refreshing adult beverage would be awesome right about now, I thought...
Mile 5: "It's all downhill from here!" Some wise guy yelled from the sidewalk. I begin to see some showoff runners with the coveted Peachtree 2009 T-shirts running back in the opposite direction. Yeah, we get it, you finished it Mister BigShot. There were three guys wearing coconut bikini tops and grass skirts. Aloha. Cat in the Hat was down the road. I passed a woman wearing the top half of her wedding dress with the tiara and veil. I passed the Woodruff Arts Center and out of the corner of my eye I saw my wife standing there on the curb across from Colony Square with a confused look. I stopped abruptly and U-turned back to meet her. She had been there since 8:30-for more than an hour . She took the picture of me above and I told her "One more mile, see you at the finish line."
Mile 6.2: The homestretch. I was booking. "Yes, I am going to make it !" I took the sharp left turn with a sprint. I am now focused on staying straight down the middle of the road. I remembered passing a ton of people down 10th St. and swinging my arms furiously almost sprinting full speed as I passed the finish line. Whoooooeeeee, that was fun. I felt awesome and energized like I could run another 6 miles. CONGRATULATIONS, dude!!!!
I grabbed a bottle of water and my T-shirt bag and thanked one of the volunteers for helping as she was wishing me a Happy Fourth.
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