Billed as the largest 10k race in the world, the 39th annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree 10k Race will be run on July 4th this year in Atlanta, Georgia. Like every year, around 55,000 people are expected to show up to run the 10k and, with a new finish line, it should be an interesting race. Every year, the Peachtree 10k has to turn away almost 20,000 race applicants as the popular race can only handle 55,000 people.
The Peachtree is a 6.2 mile (10,000 meter) race, which starts on Peachtree Street and, this year, finishes at the intersection of Juniper and Ponce de Leon. The race has always finished in Piedmont Park but because of Georgia's drought situation, the city has banned large gatherings of people in the park as they say it's too damaging to the grass and would take too much water to fix the problem after the event.
Within the race, the Peachtree 10k race also hosts the USA Men's 10k Championship and names America's fastest 10k runner that day. The race also includes a wheelchair division with more than 100 participants running in a wheelchair. The fastest wheelchair runner, Saul Mendoza, completed the race in just over 19 minutes, an amazing time for someone in a wheelchair. On the same day, there will also be a satellite race in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait with about 3,000 people (mainly soldiers) running in these three countries.
The fastest runners ever to run the race in both the men's and women's divisions are both from Kenya and it's likely this will be the case again this year. The race t-shirts are very popular every year as only a limited amount are printed and they're only given out to people who finish the race. In past years, the designs have been beautiful, and they're an added motivator for people to finish the race as it gives them a status symbol only available to a limited number of people every year.
Entrance fee is $28, but as all the 55,000 race numbers have already been distributed, if you don't have yours already this year, you'll have to wait to sign up until next year's race. But head down to Atlanta, Georgia and watch the race. More than 150,000 spectators show up every year to cheer on the runners and create an Independence Day party atmosphere of their own.
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