Bob West has missed only one Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race since 1980. He volunteers at the race's Health and Fitness Expo. He relishes the Peachtree's traditions. He's even got a unique T-shirt story.
Last year, this Peachtree everyman completed the 10-kilometer race in a most fitting spot -- squarely in the middle of the field. Out of 55,076 documented finishers, West, a 64-year-old retiree living in Big Canoe in North Georgia, placed 27,538th. West crossed the line at the midpoint between winner Sammy Kitwara and the last-place finisher who arrived at Piedmont Park four hours and five minutes after him.
"I can't believe I came in the middle," West said recently when informed of his placement. "That is funny."
Starting in 2009, the Atlanta Track Club has given time chips to every entrant after previously granting them only to the fastest in the field. Besides giving every runner a registered time, the technology has had other benefits, such as giving race organizers a data set that enabled them to implement the expanded start-wave process in 2010.
It also provides a window into who resides at the race's literal core. In this case, it was a former paper company executive who is now an active volunteer with the Boys and Girls Clubs of North Georgia. On July 4, West will run the Peachtree with his daughter Shelley for what they believe is their 19th race together. West hikes portions of the Appalachian Trail and rides his bicycle, but, he said, "None of those are a tradition like the Peachtree. That's kept me pretty healthy."
West has run four marathons and about 15 half-marathons. His best Peachtree time, run in the early '80s, was a smoking 42 minutes, 20 seconds. These days, he's content to be in the middle of the pack, loping alongside Shelley. The race is such a priority that she has returned to Atlanta from Denver and, now, Florida, to run with her dad.
"I don't miss it," said Shelley, 36, a tennis pro.
Like thousands of Peachtree participants, they've got their rituals. They've parked in the same lot for years. They greeted Ruth and Ruby Crawford, the elderly twin sisters who cheered for runners in front of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church until both died in recent years. Shelley invariably peters out around mile 4, when her dad comes to her aid.
"He'll start telling me a story and next thing you know, I'm already up the hill," she said.
The scene always entertains. West remembers running with a man who had a beer stashed in his shorts. He is amused by the fans who offer doughnuts and beer along the course.
"The funny part is that some people take it," he said.
After he and Shelley did an inventory about six months ago, he realized he had all but one of his T-shirts. But he has a spare from the one year he didn't run. That year, his sister-in-law was in Piedmont Park after the race and spied a T-shirt bag that had been left behind. She looked around for an owner and, not finding one, brought it home to Bob. When he pulled out the shirt, the design was printed on the back of the shirt instead of the front.
"It's almost like a symbol I wasn't meant to have the real shirt," he said.
West allows being wistful for the past. He liked the race before it steadily expanded, growing from 25,000 in 1980 to 60,000 last year. But he'll take it as it is.
"If I were somebody young today, I'd start running the Peachtree, just because it's something you can do and it's a fun day," he said.
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