If I’m going to run the Peach Tree Road Race for the 1st time, might as well make it the 50th anniversary, and that’s what I did!

I’m not apart of the track club so I gained entry via lottery. I had my bib and shirt mailed to me which I received about a month out from the race. The day before the race I traveled with family on the road since we live in Florida. Although I already had my bib I still went to the expo to check it out plus I wanted a running hat. We parked in the Gold parking lot, which is the closest parking lot to the expo, and the parking fee is $15. The expo is the biggest race expo I’ve ever been to. Any race day things that you may have left at home, they had it from shoes to shirts to fuel. My husband ran on the tumblelator (huge treadmill) or whatever it’s called and we hung around to watch people run on it also which was pretty cool to watch and see in person. There is a kid area towards the back where my 5-year-old niece went to jump on a trampoline. I don’t know how it was on the 1st day but the expo was very crowded on the 2nd day!

Our hotel was at the start line (The Whitley), which to me was a good choice because I heard that getting to the start line via public transportation would be stressful and I didn’t want that. So race day morning I was able to just walk out of my hotel and into my coral, simple. On the course there were many water stops but no Gatorade or any other fuel. The spectators however, handed out beer, cheese balls and other snacks to runners. There were also spectators with water guns and there were a couple times where I ran through water/sprinkler so I was never really over heated during the race. There was also cloud coverage so I’m sure that helped. The course has that block party vibe and there was spectators lined up the entire 6.2 miles of the race, pretty amazing.

This race is more like a run than a race, as it is very crowded so I couldn’t really run fast if I wanted to. I know that this race is for fun but I found this a little annoying. I started in wave F and there was so much running and swerving around walkers in this wave. They are not really strict on being in your own wave as I saw a few runners hop in my wave with a later wave letter on their bib.

There were photographers on the course but mainly towards the end. I paid for digital photos during registration. I received an e-mail the day after the race informing me that my photos were ready for download.

Post race I collected my shirt and met up with my family. The shirt was a little disappointing , I wish it wasn’t white. I collected an ice towel, chips and a Popsicle. I looked for the peaches but was informed that there were no peaches this year. We walked to the Marta station to catch the train back to the hotel. The train was crowded but not that bad if you don’t mind standing up.