Atlanta Track Club executive director Tracey Russell had not quite reached her finish line Thursday. As overseer of Wednesday's The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, Russell was wrapping up the race with meetings and phone calls.
In her view, the 43rd running of the event was one to celebrate.
"Just another great year," Russell said. "We're incredibly pleased with this year's event."
The turn in the weather — Saturday in Atlanta hit an all-time high of 106 degrees — was perhaps the most significant factor. A rain storm Tuesday night slowed the club's preparations but also cooled the course. Russell said that only two participants were admitted to hospitals, and neither was considered serious.
"I would say that, considering the weekend Atlanta had, we were very fortunate to have the weather that we did," Russell said.
In the first year that the track club posted advisory flags on the course, the race began under yellow (moderate alert level) and switched to red (high) midway through the morning. A red flag advises that conditions are potentially dangerous and that participants should slow down, observe course changes, follow official instructions and consider stopping. The next alert level is black (extreme), which stops the race.
An adjustment of the layout of the finish area in Piedmont Park was received well. A Reebok-sponsored misting tent and cold towels given out by Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines brought positive feedback, Russell said, as did the design of the finisher's T-shirt.
Regarding criticism of the shirt's cream color, Russell that with 60,000 participants, "we'll never find a color that everybody loves, but we certainly aim for one that's somewhat gender neutral."
Because of the production schedule, the club is required to pick the color of the shirt before voting for the designs is completed. As a result, the club has to pick a shirt color that works with all five finalist designs.
With the timing chip affixed to the bibs this year for the first time, virtually every participant who crossed the finish line was recorded, a total of 57,754 (average time: 1 hour, 17 minutes, 41 seconds). In 2011, the first year that the field was expanded to 60,000, there were 55,076 documented finishers when the chips were placed in tags that participants had to attach to their shoes. The Peachtree's status as the world's largest 10-kilometer race and largest single-distance race in the United States appears safe.
"At this stage, there's no plans to change [the field size] for 2013," Russell said.
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