Q: Why were African runners not permitted to register for the Peachtree Road Race the past two years?
—Wendell McBride, Lawrenceville
A: This year's Peachtree Road Race featured the inaugural Peachtree Cup, in which teams of six elite runners – three men and three women — from the U.S., Africa, Asia and Europe competed for a $42,000 first-place prize.
Team Africa, which included Gebre Gebremariam (Ethiopia), Daniel Salel (Kenya) and Valentine Kibet (Kenya), won the event with a combined time of 3:06:29, followed by Team USA (3:07:35), Team Europe (3:09:49) and Team Asia (3:15:58).
Last year’s race served as the U.S. 10K National Championships for men and women, so the “Atlanta Track Club did not actively recruit international athletes,” a spokeswoman told Q&A on the News in an email.
That change was made only for the 2014 race.
Q: A recent AJC article mentioned an advocacy group called Better Georgia. I would like to know more about the group.
—Gerald Wade, Stockbridge
A: Bryan Long, a journalist who previously worked for CNN.com, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Atlanta-based communications firm Jackson Spalding, founded Better Georgia in 2011.
The non-profit group is based in Athens and advocates for liberal causes, such as increased funding for education and health care, gay rights and ethics reform.
Long, who is the executive director, told Q&A on the News that he started Better Georgia to advocate for progressive causes as a counterbalance to the state’s conservative political leaning.
Better Georgia is funded by private donations and has received nearly 6,000 individual contributions. The average online donation is $48, Long said.
Andy Johnston wrote this column; Allison Floyd contributed. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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