Tracey Russell had no wish to leave Atlanta, the Peachtree Road Race or the Atlanta Track Club.
When a recruiter called the Atlanta Track Club executive director in May to ask her to interview in Los Angeles for a similar position, she remembers thinking, “This had better be good because I’m happy.”
It turns out it was. And the more conversations she had with people in Los Angeles, the more excited she became about the future of its marathon and what she said could be the next chapter in her career.
Russell tendered her resignation almost three weeks ago, supervised her seventh and last Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race last week, and will begin her new duties in southern California in early August.
“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Russell said. “It did feel and does feel like an incredible opportunity to take everything I’ve learned to the second-largest city in the U.S.”
Russell refused numerous requests to discuss her decision in the days before the Peachtree Road Race, saying she wanted to keep the focus on the event. On Tuesday, in her first comments about her resignation, she repeatedly praised her team at the Atlanta Track Club and the thousands of volunteers for everything they’ve done to ensure that the Peachtree continues to run “like a well-oiled machine.”
Russell pointed out a few things that she’s most proud of since leaving Richmond, Va., and taking over the ATC in 2007, starting with the impact the club has had on creating opportunities for lifestyle changes in the metro area.
“A lot of that comes in our biggest event, the Peachtree, from the best in the world that compete to the aspirational runner, to the other events that we’ve installed,” she said.
Russell cited these stats:
• The ATC now has 19,000 members compared to 6,000 in 2007.
• Participation in all ATC events has increased from 75,754 in 2009 to 102,000 in 2012.
• Volunteers have increased from 8,000 to 12,000 during the same span.
• Lastly, the ATC spent more than $300,000 last year on non-profit programs and partnerships like the adopt-a-marathon mile or various high school track-and-field teams and cross country teams. She said spending in 2013 should surpass that.
Russell will spend the next few weeks in Atlanta helping with the transition before she leaves for Los Angeles.
She said the Los Angeles Marathon has a lot of potential as it looks to continue to improve its status in the race world. It changed its route in 2010 from a looped-course to a point-to-point route that starts near Dodger Stadium and ends at the beach in Santa Monica. She said the goal is to turn it into one of the best marathons in the world.
Russell said she will spend the first months doing a lot of listening as she talks to everyone involved with producing the race.
She said she leaves Atlanta with no regrets. She offered this bit of encouragement for whomever takes over the world’s largest 10k:
“It’s an exciting time, it really is for the Atlanta Track Club,” she said. “We had another successful Peachtree that lended itself to people making a lifestyle change. The person coming in has a great opportunity to further the vision of creating more impact and adding to the heritage. There’s a great staff in place to make the transition successful and continue momentum.”
About the Author
