The city of Atlanta’s parks director was hopeful Friday that the damage done to the Piedmont Park meadow by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race will not require significant repair. The grassy area took a beating Thursday morning as close to 60,000 participants in the race, plus volunteers and security, trampled the rain-soaked turf and turned parts of it into a muddy mess.

“It is obviously wet, but a lot of the turf looked like it’s really well-rooted because of the rain,” said Doug Voss, city of Atlanta parks director. “We’ve had a really strong strand of turf out there.”

As is standard for an event held at a city park, parks officials and Atlanta Track Club officials inspected the grounds prior to the Peachtree and will do so again Monday. As is also the protocol, the track club will pay for damages incurred to the park. Typically, that’s meant aeration and fertilization.  This year, some areas may require re-sodding.

The meadow was closed Friday to leisure play, according to the Piedmont Park Conservancy field-closure hotline.

Following what the city terms a “Class ‘A’” outdoor festival or event – one with an expected attendance of 50,000 or more – the area in use is not allowed to hold another event for five weeks. The next event scheduled for the meadow is the Festival Peachtree Latino, scheduled for Aug. 25.

“I can tell you in all the years that the Peachtree has happened in Piedmont Park, (the Atlanta Track Club has) been great organizers and we have no doubt that they’ll remediate the park to be usable for the very next festival,” said Monica Thornton, senior vice president of the Piedmont Park Conservancy.