ATLANTA — The AJC Peachtree Road Race is Atlanta’s premier Fourth of July event, but not everyone who wants to dash toward the finish line gets to take part.
The scramble for a treasured Peachtree number begins early, and not everyone wins the prize. The number of people who can take part in the race is capped at 60,000.
Why?
The first Peachtree in 1970 had 110 energetic souls who likely had no idea they would become a part of Atlanta history. In the years since that first race, the AJC Peachtree Road Race has grown in stature and in the number of participants. The world’s largest 10-K running event is probably as large as it’s going to get.
It’s all about a proper fit.
The Atlanta Track Club needs to fit the race into a certain time and space. For safety reasons, the race doesn’t begin before there’s daylight. On the Fourth of July, that’s around 6:30 a.m.
Organizers want the last runner across the finish line by 11 a.m.
“We were seeing a large number of people in our medical tents in that 11 o’clock hour so we want to get ahead of the heat as best we can,” says Atlanta Track Club Executive Director Rich Kenah.
Now you’ve got to fit all of those runners into a limited space. It’s called Peachtree Street.
Take the width of Peachtree, give all of the runners room to operate, then get them all across the finish line between daylight and 11am. If you try to do that with more than 60,000, it likely won’t happen.
So, if you want to take part, apply early. If you’re not one of the lucky 60,000, there’s always next year.
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