Lillywhite Running: Peachtree Road Race 10k

	Time/ Pace	Div.	Div. Pl.	Gen. Pl.	Ov. Pl.	Bib #
Michael	41:30 6:41	Male 0-14	10/ 1065	702/ 28478	786/ 57171	1482
Owen	43:57 7:04	Male 35-39	143/ 3133	1139/ 28478	1309/ 57171	C12233
Malissa	1:14:35 12:00	Female 30-34	1973/ 3597	13354/ 28693	32154/ 57171	H31204

This race is one of our favorites, year after year. This was our fourth straight year traveling to Atlanta for the world's biggest 10k. Up until this year, it has always just been Michael and me running it. This year Malissa wanted to run it, so we left Kyle and Alicia with Opa and Neina, and made the trip with just the three of us.

Thursday, July 3rd, we drove to Spencer, NC, to drop off Kyle and Alicia. They were excited for a day with Opa and Neina. It made the trip to Atlanta a lot longer, since it was 35 minutes in the opposite direction. So after a little more than an hour of driving, we were back at our exit on I-85.

Traffic was pretty bad on the way down there. Twice there was a minor fender-bender that caused rubbernecking, which caused a huge traffic jam. Each of those cost us about a half-hour. Then when we finally made it to Atlanta, there was really bad traffic. But we made it in plenty of time for the expo.

At the expo, we picked up our numbers. Then we saw a line of people waiting at the Reebok booth to make a video and decided to do it. They made us a cool flip book that shows the video on paper, and gave us the actual video also, but I can't figure out how to download the video they gave us, and can't find it anywhere else, so here is a link to our old blog with it on it:

We walked the entire expo, sampling all the products, and browsing. After the expo, we drove to our hotel. We stayed at the W Hotel in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The race start was a block up the street which was really nice. Parking is super expensive, so I actually used valet parking, which I never do (literally never have before). I could get used to that level of service, it was really nice.

I had made dinner/movie reservations at AMC Fork & Screen. It's the same theater Michael and I went to last year. It's near the start also, and they serve you dinner while the movie is playing. It wasn't until 8:30 PM so we walked to the nearby mall and had a treat at Sprinkles. Then at 8:00 we walked to the theater, we saw "Edge of Tomorrow" and really enjoyed it (the movie and the food).

By the time the movie was over and we walked back to the hotel, it was after 10pm. We were pretty sleep deprived, and had to get up early for the race, so we went to bed.

Last year at the Scream Half-Marathon, my goal was to finish in under 1:33 so I could qualify for the sub-corral at Peachtree. I worked so hard for all 13.1 miles, and did it. I was so glad I was going to be starting up with Michael. Well, when I got my confirmation email a couple of weeks before Peachtree, they said my corral was C. I was devastated. I emailed them but never got a response. So I started in the C corral like a good boy.

So I made it a goal to run Peachtree in 41:59, which would qualify me for 2015's Peachtree sub-corral in their race with no doubt.

When the race started, I spent the first aggravating quarter mile trying to weave past all of the slower runners, which caused me to be 20 seconds or so behind my goal pace, and used a ton of energy. For the next three miles I stayed on pace, but could tell I was not going to make it. I altered my plan and decided to try and break my 10k PR which was 43:13 from over two years ago at the Hot Chocolate 10k.

I weaved in and out of literally thousands of slower runners, but still very much enjoyed it. Certainly not the ideal conditions to try and PR, but I crossed the line at 43:57. Not a PR, but I did continue the streak of improving each Peachtree performance, by beating last year's time by 30 seconds.

I knew Michael had already finished, since he started at the absolute front in the sub-corral. Feeling like I did, using every ounce of energy that I had, I just knew that my time was going to be better than Michael's, so I was preparing myself to make him feel better about his time even though I beat him. He is very competitive and I just new he'd be disappointed.

I found him in the family meeting area, at the "L" balloon as planned. I asked him what his time was. When he said "41:41" (more than two minutes FASTER than me), I was SHOCKED and thrilled. That is a new family 10k record, and qualifies him already for next year's sub-corral.

In the Male 14 & Under division, there were 1,065 runners. Michael placed 10th! Of the nine that beat him, eight of them were 14 years old, which means they won't be in that division next year. The one remaining kid, beat Michael by one second! Michael and that kid were racing to the finish line, and the PA announcer did play by play to the thousands of spectators. The kid had more gas in the tank and beat Michael at the tape. Next year, I think Michael may get his revenge.

Michael and I waited for Malissa to finish back at the "L" balloon. She arrived exactly when we expected her, because she stuck to her plan and finished very close to her goal of 1:13:00. She also enjoyed the race a ton.

After the race, we walked the 1.5 miles to the train station, and headed back to the hotel. I've now stayed at the start and the finish, and definitely prefer to stay at the finish. That was a long walk!

We showered, checked out of the hotel, and drove home in time for a great Independence Day dinner with Opa and Neina.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention Michael's mug. After he finished he was handed a little card that showed he finished in the top 1,000. It was redeemable at Sports Authority for a mug and a $10 gift certificate. We picked it up on our way out of Atlanta. Michael's super proud of it, and I'm proud of him. I have a new goal for next year :)

We decided next year we will all drive down to Atlanta. Michael is going to try and win his division, I will run with Alicia, and Malissa will run/walk with Kyle. I'm already looking forward to it.