Lisa Rayam
,
Maria White Tillman
| WABE
November 24th, 2020
Atlanta’s 51st Annual Peachtree Road Race is scheduled to take place on Thanksgiving day.
For the first time in the race’s history, it’s a fall season 10K road race.
In years past, participants would race in the city’s July 4th heat along Peachtree Street from Lenox Mall to Piedmont Park. The coronavirus pandemic prompted race organizers to change the race format for the safety of everyone involved.
Not only that, the race is a virtual experience.
Due to COVID-19, there will be no crowds, no volunteers handing out water along the last year’s race route, and there’s no pre-race expo this year.
Runners and walkers will log their journey and times on-line. They will race the 6.2 miles anytime and anywhere they choose to do so on Thursday.
It will be a different experience for the thousands of runners registered.
The race sets itself up to be an auspicious occasion for the adults and children in wheelchairs who will take part.
Brent Pease, executive director of the Kyle Pease Foundation, stopped by WABE’s “Morning Edition” and spoke to the show host Lisa Rayam to explain.
“By being able to include more people this year, we get to share this experience that we’ve enjoyed for so many years now,” Pease said.
How excited are the kids involved?
“Everything looks different this year. The Peachtree is no exception. But ask the kids that are getting their first Peachtree Road Finishers Shirt…that are getting a chance to run a 10K as hard as possibly they can.”
Pease continued, “It may feel different to a lot of people. But to us, it feels like a greater opportunity that may not have happened in a normal year.”
