Thursday, July 06, 2006
A long, hot summer's day...
4th of July weekend just passed here in the South and for runners, that means the Peachtree Road Race was the main event in town... bringing people as far away as Colorado Springs and Burundi???
Yes, Burundi. Just more than a month earlier, I had read a story in Runner's World about a man named Gilbert Tuhabonye,
who on his way to a world-class running career and Olympics appearance was forced to flee his country after near-death during a genocide attempt during a civil war among tribes. Gilbert, who now lives in Texas, made an appearance at the Big Peach Running Company to go running with a few of the locals before the big race. I joined Gilbert and a few other folks as he led us on a quick little 3-mile jaunt through old Brookhaven. Let me be honest at this point, although I was on the same "road" as Gilbert, that was about it, because even his "easy" pace was grueling.
So on to the Peachtree and a few facts:
* The Peachtree Road Race is the world's largest 10K run
* Run straight down one of the world's most famous streets, Peachtree S
t., the race has been run for the last 37 years.
* The race's title sponsor is the Atlanta daily newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a Cox Enterprise entity.
* Every year the 55,000 entries are almost surely sold out within the first week of being available.
* 2006 marked the swan song of event's organizer Julia Emmons, who is known, deservedly so, for making what was once a small, neighborly event into one of the most well-organized public events in America. Emmons retired after finishing her run in Time Group 3 after 20+ years.
It was a hotter day than most have been in the past, 80 degrees at race time (7:30 a.m.) with a good, thick chunk of humidity going. The race was certainly tough, but good times made it all worthwhile.
A few notable finishers:
More new thank you's in the fund-raising efforts for Team Continuum:
* Marilyn Negretti
* Sean Cassity
* Chris Connelly
The tote board for Team Continuum is over $700.00 now... so thank you very much to all of you!!!
Talk to all of you soon! :)
Yes, Burundi. Just more than a month earlier, I had read a story in Runner's World about a man named Gilbert Tuhabonye,
who on his way to a world-class running career and Olympics appearance was forced to flee his country after near-death during a genocide attempt during a civil war among tribes. Gilbert, who now lives in Texas, made an appearance at the Big Peach Running Company to go running with a few of the locals before the big race. I joined Gilbert and a few other folks as he led us on a quick little 3-mile jaunt through old Brookhaven. Let me be honest at this point, although I was on the same "road" as Gilbert, that was about it, because even his "easy" pace was grueling.So on to the Peachtree and a few facts:
* The Peachtree Road Race is the world's largest 10K run
* Run straight down one of the world's most famous streets, Peachtree S
t., the race has been run for the last 37 years.* The race's title sponsor is the Atlanta daily newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, a Cox Enterprise entity.
* Every year the 55,000 entries are almost surely sold out within the first week of being available.
* 2006 marked the swan song of event's organizer Julia Emmons, who is known, deservedly so, for making what was once a small, neighborly event into one of the most well-organized public events in America. Emmons retired after finishing her run in Time Group 3 after 20+ years.
It was a hotter day than most have been in the past, 80 degrees at race time (7:30 a.m.) with a good, thick chunk of humidity going. The race was certainly tough, but good times made it all worthwhile.
A few notable finishers:
| Place | Time | Name | Hometown | | Age | Note | |
| 52 | 32:38 | Gilbert Tuhabonye | | | | 31 | Featured in Runner's World for his escape from |
| 150 | 36:26 | Mike Cosentino | | | | 35 | Owner of Big Peach Running Co |
| 528 | 41:34 | Jeff Galloway | | | | 60 | Former Olympian whos running method I followed to complete the Paris Marathon |
| 1059 | 45:29 | Mark J Kemp | Snellville | | | 42 | Friend |
| 1060 | 45:30 | Michael T Bauml | Snellville | | | 40 | Friend |
| 4045 | 54:23 | Sidd Negretti | | | | 32 | Me! |
More new thank you's in the fund-raising efforts for Team Continuum:
* Marilyn Negretti
* Sean Cassity
* Chris Connelly
The tote board for Team Continuum is over $700.00 now... so thank you very much to all of you!!!
Talk to all of you soon! :)
