Tired of hearing about the runaway bride? Meet Marthe Ballance — running bride.

The Atlanta native Monday will put on a lacy white outfit and veil, tie her shoes and take off — two days after her wedding. She and a dozen of her bridal party will file down a very crowded aisle: the 55,000-runner Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.

KIMBERLY SMITH / Staff (ENLARGE)
Marthe Ballance and Mark Wolff have the license. Now they want the T-shirt.
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Ballance planned this 6.2-mile jaunt a year ago as a way to celebrate her passion for Atlanta, this race and her new husband.

Mark Wolff will be the one in the tuxedo shirt with "Just Married" on the back, a string of cans around his waist and a vow to take none of this day seriously. Back in the pack at Peachtree, after all, is more like a wedding reception than a serious competition. "More chatting and eating and drinking than anything," he said.

The post-wedding race is a natural sendoff for a couple who love running. They completed a marathon as one of their first dates. He proposed while they traveled to the 2004 Peachtree from Kansas City, where they live.

The race is all in fun, but running reveals their commitment to each other, said Ballance, 29.

"There are times you don't feel like a million bucks but you keep going," she said.

"A lot of couples don't stay together during a race because the guy's too fast, but Mark always runs beside me. At my first marathon, he ran beside me with a bottle of Advil, power gels and extra water. He's always been so supportive and right there by my side. And we always finish holding hands."

The race will take her down a street that has defined her life and family.

They'll pass Piedmont Hospital, where she was born; Covenant Presbyterian Church, where she was christened; and Peachtree Battle, where she sat in a stroller watching her dad run the early editions of what would become the world's largest 10K.

"Every step of the way has a familiar ring," said her dad, Harry Ballance.

He was a Delta pilot who grew up in Buckhead, married a stewardess and raised four kids just a few blocks off Peachtree. Because of airline schedules, July 4 became their family's most celebrated holiday.

"We would always have Christmas on a different day, but Dad could always bid to get the Fourth off," Marthe ("Marcy with a lisp") Ballance said. "We're an outdoor family and love the sunshine."

Her ultimatum to her fiance: "The Peachtree Road Race is a non-negotiable trip to Atlanta."

As with many couples, their priorities became clear during their engagement.

Guests got wind of the race details long before the wedding invitation arrived. Explicit instructions on entering the race were mailed to 100 guests in January, to ensure meeting the race application deadline in mid-March. "We aren't joking about this!" the couple wrote to everybody then.

Some out-of-towners didn't R.S.V.P. quickly enough to a race so popular that it fills in a few days.

"They thought Marthe was being the over-organized, anal bride," said matron of honor Becky Wheeler Jackson, who last week was trying to rustle up four more numbers.

The bride, she noted, was more concerned about her running outfit than her designer wedding dress.

Ballance decorated a white tank top with lace and rhinestone letters spelling out "bride." Netting left over from her veil became a smaller headpiece for the race. She'll slip on a garter and carry a bouquet of ribbons.

Her bridal party should get to the race on time because their hotels are near the Lenox Square Mall starting line. They will wear outfits proclaiming their role in the wedding, scheduled Saturday at Northwest Presbyterian Church in Atlanta.

"We contemplated having someone wear a robe and carry a Bible but decided that would be a little much," Ballance said. "I never was the dreamy girl who dreamed of being in a white dress one day."

The plan has the blessing of race director Julia Emmons. "We are always delighted when running Peachtree means so much to our runners that they would make it a centerpiece to a great event in their lives; it sums up what we are trying to accomplish in making running a positive experience. Happy miles to them both."

PEACHTREE ROAD RACE

• When: 7:30 a.m. Monday

• Distance: 6.2 miles