Bret

This was the 50th running of the Atlanta Peachtree Road Race.  I first ran this race in 2014 when we moved to Atlanta.  I have run it every year since then with the exception of 2015 when we were out of town.  This was my fastest effort to date and my best since 2014 by nearly a minute.  

It was expected to be very hot and humid - perhaps worse than some years - so I took things conservatively for the first couple of miles which are mostly downhill.  We were fortunate with some good cloud cover which kept the heat from being a significant factor.  I worked the uphills to try to keep an even pace - which in recent years has really been difficult.  This year with clear blood vessels - it was refreshingly manageable.  I slowed only slightly in the second 5k from the first and felt quite well after the race too.  

My son in law, eldest daughter and wife each participated (wife walked it with daughter) as my other girls live out of state now and did not travel for the holiday.  We all connected with each other at the finish and found another friend of ours.  Went to breakfast at Maple Street Biscuits in Alpharetta and had a grand ole time.  

Considering I just completed Grandmas marathon less than 2 weeks ago - even though this was not my fastest 10k this year - I was quite pleased with the result and grateful that I have the health to continue to do this.  I think of this each time I line up for a race now.  It was an especially moving moment for me and others as we stood at the start - staring up at the enormous American flag hanging from a crane over the starting line and a solo singer delivered a poignant rendition of our national anthem concluding with a low flyover of 3 F16’s thundering overhead.