Chris Konochel flew in from San Francisco to run in the AJC Peachtree Road Race on Tuesday.
Konochel said he hadn’t visited Georgia in a long time and was among the 19 percent of participants who hadn’t ran previously.
“Well, I know it’s a big event,” he said. “And my whole family does it, my buddy’s family does it, but I’ve never done it. So I came back to do it.”
As one might expect, adjusting from a California summer to Georgia summer isn’t an enjoyable experience. Konochel said he doesn’t run much in San Francisco, and experiencing Tuesday’s heat was a challenge.
“This was unbelievably hard,” he said. “It (California) has made me soft. Everything is too hot and humid. I don’t want to be outside. California makes you soft.”
Konochel is one of many who came to Atlanta just for the race. Forty-seven states are represented, with the North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming as outliers.
Konochel flies back to San Francisco on Wednesday.
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