The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race means different things to different people. Regardless of the varied viewpoints, to the tens of thousands of people gathered in Buckhead and Midtown to either run or watch, the race means a celebration. Here are some of the sights seen along the way:

Proving grounds

From 1985-95, Don Herring ran the Peachtree Road Race. This year, he and his fiancee, Yolanda Celik, sat on the sidewalk near the corner of Peachtree and Collier Road as spectators. Herring brought Celik down to watch her nephew, Bryan Jones of Savannah, run the race. He said the mystique of Cardiac Hill is why they set up shop at the location. "I got tired of running, because I did enough when I was boxing," said Herring, who turns 60 in December. "This is definitely the best spot to watch the race. This is the tough stretch." He turned to Celik and explained: "This is were men and women are made."

—- Derrick Mahone

Debating the shirt

No surprise here. Peachtree runners either liked or didn't like the T-shirt. The slate-blue background with "10 K" in the red, white and blue of the American flag featured the winning design of graphic artist Patricia Kok of Cumming. "Oh, it's blue," said Ange Badji of Lithonia as he took the T-shirt out of the bag given to runners as they walked from the finish line to the Atlanta Civic Center. "I think last year's shirt is nicer. I think it's a yellowish color. I like the design, but I feel the '10 K' is too big." Jay Foley, an Atlanta native and physical chemistry doctoral student at the University of Chicago, had an opposite viewpoint. "I like the background color, but I thought it was a prettier design last year."

—- Scott Bernarde

'The American way'

Four young men stood in front of adjacent bars —- Peachtree Tavern, Moondogs and Hole in the Wall —- feverishly pouring beer out of pitchers into small plastic cups and yelling "free beer here." Many runners veered off-course to grab and chug a cup before heading back into the churning crowd. "It's the American way," grinned Terry Flaherty, 51, a conductor on the New York City subway system who said he came to Atlanta just for the race. "I came here for this, and some friends think I'm nuts. But I'm not. This is what the Fourth of July should be all about, a big celebration."

—- Bill Hendrick

Dude, whose car is it?

The dark gray Nissan Maxima that sat parked in the middle of the Atlanta Civic Center parking lot drew plenty of attention. It became a leaning place for many, particularly those with last names beginning with S. The S balloon, to help people locate each other after the race, floated above the car. It also was where Lane and Kathy Shaw, Carrie Ann Seville and John Thompson (Kathy Shaw's brother), all of Alpharetta, spread out a red-and-white checkerboard cloth for a lunch of shrimp, veggies and dessert. It looked like a tailgate party, so many of the people nearby thought the car was theirs and that they had brilliantly found the best parking spot on the route. It didn't belong to them, nor any Atlanta Track Club staffer, nor even the drummer of the band "The Reputations," which played 50 yards away. Later, it was gone. "They came up and just said they were runners and the parking lot was open, so they parked," Thompson said.

—- Scott Bernarde

Another on the way

Atlanta resident Tiencia James, 30, was six months pregnant when she ran the Peachtree Road Race last year. She found a way to top it —- running Friday's race while eight months pregnant. "I got my number before I realized I was pregnant," she said. With her brother by her side, James finished, beating out her father and two sisters. James said she ran for the first seven months of her pregnancy before switching her training to walking and running. Her only goal was to finish without giving birth to her son, whom she plans to name Mason. "I felt pretty good. No contractions," she said with a laugh. "Hopefully, they'll both be runners in a couple years."

—- Jenna Marina

37 in a row

Steve Corley of Lawrenceville ran his 37th consecutive Peachtree (he missed the first two), but his most memorable came in 1988 after he broke his leg in February and needed nine screws inserted. "That's probably the one I'm most proud of. I didn't fly down Peachtree Street, but I made it." Corley, 56, who doesn't run any other road races, said he's not sure how many in a row he'll run before giving it up. "It's always year to year," he said.

—- Scott Bernarde

To their health

Barnett Birch, a 56-year-old special-education teacher at Washington High School, said he had finished the race every year he could remember since 1983. His wife, Deloris, 55, reckoned she was running for maybe the fifth time, and said she would walk the grueling course. Deloris, who works for a health care organization, said she was running to promote the idea of "taking steps to take care of yourself, being smart. You just never know." He finished in an hour, 13 minutes, his wife 40 minutes behind. And their daughters, Morgan Birch, 23, and Bernadette Birch, 27, also finished, but far back in the pack.

—- Bill Hendrick

All in the family

Three generations of a Lilburn family ran Friday —- grandfather Ted Smith, 80; father Jonathan Richard Smith, 50; and son Jonathan Michael Smith, 25. The last time the three ran was a decade ago. Ted, now living in Clayton, was the last to finish, well after 11 a.m., making his son and grandson a little nervous. "If I'm 80 and still running," said the grandson. "I'll be doing great." ... Edwin Swords, 87, Edwin Swords III, 49, and daughter Natalie Swords, 13, of Canton all ran Friday. ... Jennifer and Jason Craft of Hartwell in northeast Georgia got out of bed at 3:45 a.m. and drove to Atlanta for their first Peachtree. They drove to the Chamblee MARTA station, then rode the train to Lenox for the start. "We'll spend the night next year," Jennifer said.

—- Scott Bernarde

Changing shape

Josh Turner, clad in a red cape with a black mask over his eyes, laughed that his "superhero" costume couldn't hide his protruding belly " 'cause it's just too big." The 22-year-old from Ball Ground was schmoozing with friends who had come with him, and just before the race began vowed to finish "if it kills me, and it might." The 5-foot-4 Turner, an English major at Kennesaw State University who estimated his weight at 200 pounds, said "I'm trying to run some of this off," and that he shed some in previous races. "He gets it done," said Turner's pal, Graham Arp, also of Ball Ground and a history major at KSU. "He does what he says."

—- Bill Hendrick

From Valdosta with love

Marion Harris' 17-year tradition of volunteering for the race was nearly put in jeopardy. However, a broken leg couldn't stop the Valdosta resident from making the three-hour trek to lend her services. Harris arrived at her spot on Peachtree Road at 5:30 a.m. with a knee-high walking cast on her right leg. "It is the runners that kept bringing me back," Harris said. "By the time they get to this point, they really need the water." Harris said she will probably be sore afterward, but brought a chair to take a break, and she relied heavily on her assistant, George Masciarelli. Her husband, Clint, ran the race, his 20th Peachtree, along with their son, Ben.

—- Derrick Mahone

More than a race

Evan Hadjisimos, 29, and his wife, Maria, waved a huge black POW/MIA flag, shouting patriotic slogans as a singer nearby belted out his version of "God Bless the USA." Hadjisimos said he served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. "We're here to remind people this is not just a race, but a day to be proud of our country. It's important for people to remember what our military does and has always done," he said.

—- Bill Hendrick

Pushing his limitations

Fifteen-year-old James Adams of Acworth raced in his first Peachtree and received one of the bigger ovations as he crossed the line. Because of meningitis as an infant, he has had amputations on all four limbs. Still, he pushed his borrowed wheelchair with the help of tape —- "rolls and rolls of tape," he said. He wrapped his arms with the sticky side of the tape on the outside so he could get some grip on the wheels. Adams, a sophomore at Furtah Prep School in Cherokee who plays for the Georgia Blazers wheelchair basketball team, picked the Peachtree as a way to stay in shape. "It was all good, besides the hills. I thought I would pass out on [Cardiac Hill]," he said. "I might [enter more races] as long as none of the races are harder than this one."

—- Scott Bernarde

Red, white and 'whoa'

Paula Kocher and Ken Murphy, a married couple from Decatur, have played Betsy Ross and Uncle Sam at the Peachtree finish line for nearly 25 years. "They found two people crazy enough to wear heavy costumes in Atlanta in July," Kocher said. The couple's main job is to hold up the peach-colored finish tape for the men's and women's wheelchair and open winners as they each cross the finish line. Sounds easy, with a velcro middle pulling apart when an athlete crosses. But about 10 years ago, after new velcro had been added, the tape didn't pull apart and the men's wheelchair winner rolled down the street with it dragging from his neck. "We just had to let it go," Murphy said. "That's why we test it every year."

—- Scott Bernarde