New Finish Line for Peachtree 2008
Posted Thursday, 21 February, 2008
ATLANTA - (February, 19, 2008) - Athletes participating in the 39th running of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on July 4th will add one additional turn to their route from previous years to a new finish line at the intersection of Juniper and Ponce de Leon in midtown Atlanta. After crossing the finish line runners will walk one block south on Juniper, turn east on North Avenue for one block and then turn south on Piedmont Avenue to receive their water and t-shirts, then arrive at the Civic Center parking area where the awards stage, family meeting area and sponsor village will be located.
This change affects only the final .6 of a mile for the world's largest 10K road race. As in previous years, all 55,000 participants will line-up in the Lenox Square Mall area to begin the race. The remainder of the route remains unchanged. Runners will be able to access MARTA after the event by heading east on Ralph McGill toward the Civic Center Marta Stop located on West Peachtree Street.
The AJC Peachtree Road race has traditionally ended in Piedmont Park. The original finish line, located near old Central City Park, was relocated in 1978. However, in January the City of Atlanta announced the suspension of any Class A event (those that attract 50,000 people or more) from city parks, due to effects from the drought. This policy resulted in the need for a new finish line.
"We hope this change to the finish line is not permanent," said Tracey Russell, Executive Director of the Atlanta Track Club. "When the drought situation improves, our goal is to move the finish back to the Park. The City of Atlanta and the Civic Center have been helpful and gracious in making the change for this year as seamless as possible, so that our runners can be assured the same world class race they are accustomed to."
Registration for the 39th running of Peachtree begins on Sunday, March 16, when the application appears in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Out-of-town runners can access the application online at AtlantaTrackClub.org beginning Monday, March 17. The first 45,000 applications received gain / entry in the event that typically fills within the first few days of registration. The remaining 10,000 slots are filled through a lottery system for all remaining applications postmarked by March 31.
The Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States with more then 9,000 members. Aside from organizing the Peachtree, the world's largest 10K and the country's largest running event of any distance, the Atlanta Track Club puts on more then 25 running events per year including the Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day.
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