Running for the second half of my life: July 4, 2016: The Peachtree Road Race (10K), my third year

Goal: Get to the highest point of the course at 12th Street in good enough shape to give it my all in the final mile for a strong finish.

Atlanta's Peachtree Road Race is always a really fun event where 55,000 - 60,000 runners and many more thousands of volunteers and spectators celebrate Independence Day with the biggest 10K road race in the world. I really enjoy every minute of the event, from the energy of the fellow runners on the MARTA train from Doraville Station to Lenox Mall, through the race and to the post-race party in Piedmont Park. But this is a tough course: while the first 5K features a 176 feet drop in elevation to Peachtree Creek, the second 5K rises net 104 feet, most of it in miles 4 and 5. Due to the temperature, I went into today's race with modest expectations, even expecting that it might be my slowest of three Peachtree Road Races. Running the Reject Race on Saturday was actually helpful in lowering expectations for a fast time today. My main goal for this race was simply to finish strong, hopefully passing more people in the final mile than would pass me. I've managed good finishes in 2014 and in 2015: that's what really matters to me in races, that's what makes it fun, more than the actual time.

Panorama of the wave C starting area, around 7:15 am

I placed in starting wave C this year with a 24:00 5K in February, missing wave B by just two seconds. This year's cutoff was 23:58, and I actually ran 23:52 in a 5K in April several weeks after the registration window had closed! However, the regular reader of this blog will be aware that I've slowed down quite a bit with the summer heat, and so I had no complaint about beginning with wave C this morning.

Tatyana McFadden winning the Boston Marathon (2015 photo from her website)

We arrived in time to watch from a distance as the wheelchair racers began shortly before 7 am. Tatyana McFadden won the Peachtree Road Race last year, and in April 2016 I watched on television as she won the Boston Marathon. Her life story to this stage is inspirational. Her parents did not let others set limits for their daughter when she was younger, and now Tatyana McFadden is the world's champion female wheelchair racer. She didn't disappoint today, winning Peachtree in just over 23 minutes.

"Cooter" sharing his words of experience...

On a lighter note, a few days ago I saw a spoof video from a guy named "Cooter", how not to run the Peachtree Road Race! "Cooter" gave the memorable advice, "I don't think you've tried unless you've gone to the medical tent." !!!

The race route

For this race, my advice is to generally enjoy the spectacle of this fantastic celebration, watching the spectators and letting the experience soak in - as well as soaking up as many water sprays as possible on a hot day. For the first three miles, I ran at a fairly relaxed pace, just keeping up with the flow at about 8:30 min / mile, perfectly on plan. I didn't take many walk breaks other than walking through most of the water stations, but I didn't push it too hard either, wanting to save energy for the finish. That's right Cooter, I didn't try that hard but I didn't want to end up in the medical tent. As we started up Cardiac Hill, I crossed the 5K timing strip at 26:50.

Temperatures at the start (left, middle) and shortly after the finish (right)

Many congratulations to the Atlanta Track Club for organizing plenty of water stations on this warm day. Water was available on both sides of the road every mile or so. I'm grateful to the many volunteers who served probably half a million cups of water today, and the police and medical personnel that were ready to help anyone in distress. I saw our friend Michele Hoover at her usual position at the intersection with Lindbergh Drive, near the halfway point of the race, and exchanged a quick high-five as I dashed by.

Heading up Cardiac Hill, I took it fairly easy, slowing down to a 10 min / mile pace for the fourth mile. I was determined not to burn myself out today, and sped up again when I reached the top. As expected, there was another uphill stage after crossing Interstate 85, entering Midtown Atlanta. Around the 5-mile mark, I found Tucker Running Club member Jan Dunaway at the water station in front of the High Museum of Art, and gratefully accepted a cup of water from Jan before starting up again.

Free photo from Marathonfoto, taken on Peachtree Street around 14th Street.

As I crossed the "summit" of the race at 12th Street, I began to speed up in earnest, getting back to about an 8:30 min / mile pace. I was delighted that I was able to find a higher gear this morning. Turning the corner onto 10th Street, I just kept pushing as hard as I could. I resolved to stay in the middle of the road this year to avoid any hazards from the fencing or curbs. 10th Street was rolling but net downhill, and I ran about a 7:40 min / mile pace for the length of 10th Street. It was so much fun to pass a lot of people in that last half-mile! When I saw the finish line coming up in the last few hundred yards, I gave another burst of acceleration to push through the finish line, 55:12 on my watch, and later I saw that I had run an official time of 55:07!

This wasn't my fastest time on the course, but I actually ran about 30 seconds faster than my first Peachtree Road Race two years ago when the temperature was about 10 degrees lower. Best of all, I was able to speed up through the last mile, which was a lot of fun and a great confidence booster going into marathon training, with the kick-off session this coming Saturday. Today I ran more even splits compared with my race two days earlier, and it paid off in finishing a minute faster and enjoying the entire race experience.

After seeing Kurokitty's post on today's race, I checked my overall placement. I was delighted to see substantial improvement in comparison with the rest of the field:

2014: 55:36, 9382nd place out of 57,660 finishers (83rd overall percentile)
690th out of 3242 males aged 50 - 54 (78th age group percentile)

2015: 54:38, 7672nd place out of 54,752 finishers (85th overall percentile)
592nd out of 3118 males aged 50 - 54 (81st age group percentile)

2016: 55:07, 5811th place out of 56,913 finishers (89th overall percentile)
425th out of 3173 males aged 50 - 54 (86th age group percentile)

I'm continuing to improve!