Team strategies for the inaugural Peachtree Cup were partially revealed during a press conference for the AJC Peachtree Road Race on Thursday.
The Peachtree Cup is one of the races within the world’s largest 10K, which will be held Saturday. The Cup will feature four teams – the U.S., Europe, Africa and Asia – composed of three men and three women each competing against each other. The team with the lowest cumulative time will win the Cup and will split a prize of $42,000.
The captains, Shalane Flanagan for the U.S., Ethiopia’s Gebre Gebremariam for Africa, Italy’s Daniele Meucci for Europe and Japan’s Yusuke Hasegawa for Asia, seemed to agree the best tactic will be to run in packs for the first 4-6k. Then, it will be every man or woman for themselves as the course turns uphill.
“You have to talk for the first 5K, and then the rest of the course you have to use your talent,” said Gebremariam, who won the Peachtree in 2010.
The packs may stay together the first few miles because drafting will help them conserve energy, Flanagan said.
Flanagan had only seen a portion of the course as of Thursday morning, but planned to drive it before Saturday. She said her team, which includes last year’s winner Christo Landry, will meet to discuss how they will approach the race. The most important piece of information may be the fitness levels of each runner, Flanagan said.
But each captain said they are excited about the team element of the race.
“There’s going to be extra meaning slipping on that U.S.A. jersey on Saturday,” Flanagan said. “I think we will get extra support.”
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