Among the Olympians, returning champions and casual runners who took to the streets for the 2018 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race on Wednesday morning, hometown rapper Jeezy trekked 6.2 miles alongside Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to raise money for three nonprofit organizations.
The two teamed up with a goal of contributing $1 million to Jeezy’s Street Dreamz Foundation, Atlanta’s Youth Scholarship Program and the Atlanta Track Club’s Kilometer Kids.
“(Mayor Bottoms is) a great a friend of mine,” Jeezy said of the partnership. “Anything I can do to support the city of Atlanta (and) support her cause, I’m always down. I’m always a phone call away if she needs me.”
The Peachtree was the rapper’s first 10K, but a recent devotion to distance running provided a solid foundation for the road race.
At a news conference Tuesday, Jeezy received some advice about the course from two-time Olympic medalist Bernard Lagat. Those tips proved useful, as Lagat went on to win the men’s elite division with a time of 28:45 while Jeezy ran the entire course and finished in a little over an hour.
“The crazy thing was (with) so much motivation going around it didn’t feel like it was really a race,” he said. “I love the people that were on the side of the road with their signs and giving away watermelon and beer. Welcome to Atlanta.”
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