run like you stole something

Well, I made it through the Peachtree road race. And I didn't do too bad if I say so myself. I ran the first 3 miles, which I'm pretty proud of, and I finished with a time of 1:24:08, my best yet. (For point of reference, the people that are actually running to win finish in about 23 minutes - they are done before I even start running. Crazy.) Anyway, it was still really fun. It stayed relatively cool out and there were frequent breezes, which was a blessing. Speaking of blessings, there was a priest outside of a Catholic church sprinkling holy water onto runners as they passed by.

One of my favorite things about the race is that it's a really fun place to people watch. Some of the runners have funny shirts or crazy costumes. (One girl had a shirt that said "I hate running", and a man had one that said "Kick some asphalt." Heh.) There are people on the sidelines with signs, my favorites this year were: "run like you stole something" and "BEER... made you run faster didn't it?" Hee. It's nice to have stuff like that to watch.

There are always lots of people lining the route cheering you on (which is really only fun for awhile, and after about the fourth mile when people start shouting "c'mon keep running" and "only _ more miles", you want to shout back "if it's that easy, why aren't you out here"). I also get pissed when runners who have finished come back and stand on the side of the route and show you the t-shirt. Assholes. I want to see it when I finish the race, not anytime before. (For those who aren't aware, the Peachtree Road Race t-shirt is highly coveted and you get to vote each year on several possible designs, and you don't know which one wins until the end of the race.)

But all in all, a fun time. If you get a chance, the link at the bottom of this post goes to the ajc coverage of the race, and has some neat pictures. Especially the overhead ones of all the runners.

Link