The 39th Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race has a new finish line and is missing many top runners, but that could mean a closer finish Friday.

"We might have a pack finish, and I'd love to see it," said John Curtin, who recruits elite runners for the race. "[The new finish] is going to make a little slower race, but I think it'll be more competitive."

Curtin, speaking at a news conference Wednesday morning at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Buckhead, said the challenges the 6.2-mile race has faced this year amounts to making "lemons into lemonade."

The first came in January, when the city of Atlanta banned large gatherings from Piedmont Park —- Peachtree's traditional finish area —- because of the drought. The finish line was moved to the intersection of Juniper Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, creating an uphill run to the tape. In the past, Peachtree runners could count on an 800-meter downhill run on 10th Street to Piedmont Park. The new final push on Juniper includes two smaller hills, which could add "12 to 22 seconds" to the course and bunch up runners.

It's also an Olympic year, which means many of the top U.S. and international runners will not come to the Peachtree. But that leaves a younger group that could be the future of distance running. "This is their Olympics," Curtin said. "This is their big race of the summer."

Overseas military racers a record

A record number of American soldiers in the Middle East will run their own version of the Peachtree, Atlanta Track Club executive director Tracey Russell said Wednesday. Russell said 3,350 soldiers will earn a coveted Peachtree T-shirt in races planned in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.

"I've heard so many wonderful testimonials [about the races overseas]," Russell said. "A lot of them are Atlantans stationed overseas."

The Peachtree first added races for soldiers in 2004.

Four races are scheduled, the biggest being at Camp Bagram in Afghanistan, where 1,200 runners will run the 6.2 miles. That race will begin at 5 a.m. Friday Afghanistan time (9 p.m. today in Atlanta).

Another 1,000 will run at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait (5 a.m. Friday in Kuwait; 10 p.m. today in Atlanta), 900 at Camp Victory, Baghdad, Iraq (6:20 a.m. Friday in Iraq; 11:20 p.m. today in Atlanta), and 150 at Al-Asad, Iraq (6 a.m. Friday in Iraq; 11 p.m. today in Atlanta).

IF YOU GO

> When: Friday (6:50 a.m. wheelchair start; 7:30 a.m. runners)

> Who: 55,000 participants, making it the world's largest 10K

> Where: Lenox Square to the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Juniper Street

> Total purse: $83,100 (including $15,000 to overall men's and women's winners)

> TV: WAGA, 6:45-9:30 a.m.

> For results: The AJC will list the top 1,000 finishers of the Peachtree Road Race in our print editions Saturday. More results can be found at ajc.com.