2010 AJC Peachtree 10K Race Report

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I know, I know.  It's taken me nearly 3 days to file this report.  What can I say?  I'm a slacker.  On the 4th, I ran the AJC Peachtree 10k with my friends the Trocchi's (who also graciously hosted us at their home.  Thanks guys!) and over 50,000 other runners (Yes.  50,000 runners.  For a 10k.  But for the record, it was surprisingly organized and orderly for a race that size).  The weather was perfect, a cool 75-80 degrees, and nary a cloud in sight.  The first 3 miles were downhill, and I figured that I would need to clipping along fairly quick to have any chance at a PR.  So you can imagine my frustration, when I realized that several people in my corral (I was placed in the first corral behind the invitees/seeded/subseeded.  I know.  Awesome, right?  You betcha.) were jogging/walking.  Looking down at my Garmin and realizing the pace was way too slow, I moved to the left and tried to sprint through the pack.  Not easy in corral of 2,000 or so people, but I managed to build up to a decent pace.  My paces were 7:38, 6:59 and 6:44.  The remaining half of the race was mostly uphill.  As the heat built, I tried to stay cool by sticking to the shady parts of the course, dousing myself with water, and taking quick drinks at the water stops.  Between the heat and elevation, my pace seriously slowed.  Fortunately for me, the last mile was downhill, so I was able to make up some time there.  My paces were 7:14, 7:22, 7:05 and 1:48 (6:12/mi for the last .2).  My official finish time was 44:51, 7:14/mi, which was a new PR (I know.  Awesome, right?  You betcha.)!  Overall I finished 1402 out of 50,965 finishers (I know.  Awesome, right?  You betcha.).  Booyah!

With a race this big, it could have been a total organizational/logistics nightmare, but surprisingly, it wasn't.  The race organizers had volunteers stationed at strategic spots to make sure that everyone got where they needed and kept the runner traffic moving.  They had plenty of food, including Georgia peaches, and I was shocked that the bagels even seemed relatively fresh (I had that all races required week old, stale bagels, but these were nice and soft.  Awesome, right?  You betcha.).  

This keen insight into runner needs and pampering was particulary evident in the place that I can commonly be found prior to a race, the porta-potty.  These porta-potties provided by Johnny on the Spot were the cadillac of porta-potties.  

They were mostly clean and had plenty of TP.  The ones that I saw (I had to make use of the facilities before and after the race.  I know.  Peanut bladder.  You betcha.) had fixtures for men (#1) and men and women (#1 and #2).  Furthermore, these closets of luxury had hand sanitizers and seat sanitizers!  They even had a shelf for your stuff while you took care of business!  

Take note race directors, this is how you treat a runner in your race.  Get them the upscale porta-potty!  The only recommendation that I might have for the Peachtree race director is that the goody bag at the end of the race really needed some deodorant/cologne.  There were a lot of ripe folk riding the subway home (I know.  Stinky, right?  You betcha.)  That's all I've got for now.  Later kids!