Atlanta Marathon turnout higher this year

The festive atmosphere at Turner Field on Thanksgiving Day started before the sun came up.

Runners of all ages and abilities jogged, stretched and yawned their way through the dawn and the beginning of the 47th-annual The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon and Half Marathon.

Half marathon runners started their 13-mile journey along Clairmont Road near the Chamblee MARTA station at 7 a.m., a half hour before the longer-distance runners. The finish line for both races was at Turner Field, where the marathon also began.

“It would be great if it were 10 degrees warmer,” said marathoner Karen Crews of Raleigh, N.C., as she prepared herself in a Turner Field parking lot, with temperatures dipping into the 30s. “I’m a little cold right now.”

Crews, 33, who grew up in Atlanta, said she decided to run the marathon as part of her training for an Iron Man competition next year in Wilmington, N.C. Besides the training, Crews said she wanted to run to prove to herself that she could do it.

“So many people think of a marathon as impossible,” she said. “It’s really not, and I’m living proof.”

Most of the runners — about 10,500 — ran the half marathon. The remaining 1,000 were expected in the full 26 miles.

Organizers said this year’s attendance was up more than 3,000 from last year’s 8,400, thanks in part to first-time sponsor The Weather Channel.

“They did a lot of online and on-air promotion,” said Tracey Russell, executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, which organizes the Atlanta Marathon at Thanksgiving and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on July Fourth.

Russell said the track club also was more active in recruiting runners at the Peachtree Road Race, which attracts more than 55,000 runners.

Near the front of the start line Thursday, Travis Turner sported a No. 7 running number over a Milton High School track jersey. The 17-year-old track and cross country runner was taking last-minute pictures with his parents before it was time to hit the road.

“I ran the L.A. Marathon two times in the 80s,” said his dad, Ted Turner. “But after that second time, never again.”

Approximately 30 minutes after the marathon runners took off, the first half marathoners started crossing the finish line. Michael Green, a former Troy State University distance runner, finished first in the half marathon with a time of 1:07:23, according to official race results. Later, runner Justin Leach was the first to cross the finish line among those in the full marathon. Leach’s time: 2:39:52.

Here’s a look at the top five finishers in the marathon and half marathon. (For complete results go to www.atlantatrackclub.org.)

2008 The Weather Channel Atlanta Top Five Finishers (Official Gun Time)

Marathon Male
Justin Leach — 2:39:52
Tyrone Harris — 2:44:11
Scott Lowe — 2:44:32
Jon Lawler — 2:45:49*
Gabriel Helmlinger — 2:48:13
*Masters Winner

Female
Jacquelyn King — 3:14:57
Anca Dumitrescu — 3:18:16
Amy Marcotte — 3:23:04
Haley Chura — 3:23:55
Jennifer Watts —3:27:35
*Masters Winner

Half Marathon Male
Michael Green — 1:07:23
Andrew Fuller — 1:07:53
Wallace Campbell — 1:09:37
Michael Bunker — 1:10:44
Sammuel Gillespie — 1:11:12

Female
Stephanie Herbst-Lucke — 1:17:01
Jill Horst — 1:18:03
Allison Kreutzer — 1:20:45
Allison Dublinski — 1:20:53
Jennifer Feenstra — 1:23:17