The Peachtree Road Race!!

The  Peachtree Road Race!!

You can say that I started from ground zero yesterday at the 2013 AJC Peachtree Road Race yesterday as it was my first time participating in such an extraordinary event. It was absolutely amazing. I unfortunately was not a runner this year, however I was one of the volunteers and I must say, the feeling was exhilarating. I felt  so wonderful being a part of such grand affair that I know I will be doing it again next year. I am still deciding on whether I should run or volunteer. I am going towards running because it seems like such an exciting life event and life accomplishment. It requires the mind and spirit to dig deep, find the inner gumption and self motivation to challenge oneself to conquer a 10K feat. Whether I run or volunteer however, I believe it will be quite a fulfilling opportunity.

I got up a 3:00 A.M that morning so my husband and I could arrive at our assigned location which was water@finish, which means distributing bottled water at the finish line. We decided to get a relative to drive us to the location and drop us off to eliminate some of the traffic issues. We got to our location at the Grady High School and picked up our volunteer T-shirt (which was beautiful by the way) our Home Depot Apron and our Waffle House discount key fob from the check-in area. By this time, I was so excited I barely heard the instructions on how to get to the water@finish location. Needless to say, my husband and I got lost and spent 10 to 15 minutes finding the spot which was on a field area off the road and marked with blue balloons. We eventually did and discovered that about six other volunteers had arrived before us. They were already setting out the water bottles on the tables. We met with our chief coordinators who I believe were a married couple. They were so friendly and funny that they made the atmosphere lighter and brighter despite the rain that plagued the event. The bad weather also contributed to significantly less volunteers showing up as well but clearly the weather couldn't discourage every body and so, the show went on.

There were about 6 tables arranged in an oval shape in six areas and the objective was to fill the tables with water bottles and stack the remaining unopened packs of bottled water under the tables so we could replenish the water bottles once the 60,000 runners cleared the ones on top of the table. My husband and I set to work with our box cutters in the drizzling rain. We laughed, we talked and we worked until we had filled all the tables at that particular area. Then we started on another area. When we were finally finished, we went back to the first set of tables and waited patiently for the thirsty, exhausted and sweaty runners to start flooding the field.

After about half an hour to forty-five minutes they started trickling in. First the elite female runners, then the elite male runners, then EVERYBODY! The waves of runners just got bigger and bigger where there were almost not enough hands to hand the bottled water to these water seekers. Some of the runners helped themselves to the table. It was a remarkable sight to behold and I loved it!

There were all kinds of runners. All of which had personal reasons and motivation to run. Since it was the fourth of July, many of them wore costumes designed like the American flag or ran with the American flag. There were people dressed like super heroes. My husband and I laughed at Captain America. There were firefighters which had me baffled because I know it wasn't easy to run 10K wearing such a bulky uniform. There were runners running in memory of the Boston bombing. There were international runners and runners of all ages. I believe I saw one Jamaican runner which was a moment of pride for me. They all seem to have a distinct look of gratitude on their faces as we handed them the water. Some of them even took the time to say thank you for volunteering which made my volunteering experience all the more worthwhile. It was phenomenal.

We kept handing out water until it was time for my husband and I had to leave, I literally had to force myself to leave because I was enjoying myself so much.I wanted to stay until the end but my husband and I had other pressing engagements and sadly could not stay for the finish. But the experience was awesome to say the least and gets a thumbs up from me. I will definitely be back.




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