The Peachtree Road Race

The 4th of July got off to an early start as usual for the Sharp family. My parents, Karen, her friend Kevin, Kyle (surprise!), Rhian's mom, Rhian and I all met up at my dad's house at 6 AM to do our annual run of the Peachtree Road Race. This would be my dad's 31st Peachtree in a row! We arranged transportation so that we would have a car parked at the finish to take everybody back to their cars at the start. After 2 years of leaving my change of clothes in the car at the start, I finally got it right, and left them in the car at the finish. Turns out I got it wrong again! (As you will soon see). I barely met up with my friends with whom I played soccer with at Armstrong State College, Bill Cobb and Mark Dempsey. I found them with less than 5 minutes to go amongst a sea of runners in Time Group 1B. We would run together for nearly 5 miles, knock out sub 9 miles for the first 4 miles. We would struggle a bit and run a 10 minute 5th mile. I was starting to fade a bit, having run the triathlon 6 days earlier. I was hoping to make it to the picture taking spot. Due to the fact that Piedmont Park was closed to the Peachtree due to the drought, we were forced to turn onto Juniper Street and finish on a hill. I had told Mark earlier to go on ahead after we had our picture taken. He said we will all finish together. Bill had gotten slightly ahead of us after 5 miles as Mark and I ran together. I felt better going down the hill on 10th Street, looking forward to catching Bill and have our picture taken together. As soon as we turned on Juniper, all I saw was a long hill and no picture taking scaffold. I told Mark to go, because there was no way I could run, let alone keep up on the hill. Mark and Bill would finish together in 56:34 and I in 57:49. I would eventually meet up with everybody under the "S" in the missing persons area at the Civic Center. To our surprise, Kyle had finished in 66 minutes, which is great for someone who didn't really train! Everybody else would finish up healthy. Now comes the part where I got things wrong. Two miles into the race, I realized that I locked up the keys to my car (parked at the finish) in my dad's car (parked at the start). After I had finished, I ran into my friend Rico Dorsey and asked him how he was getting back, trying to perhaps get a ride. He said he was taking MARTA, and I told him of my plight. He asked if I had money to ride, which I didn't, and he gave me $20 to help. Turns out I needed all of it, as my dad, our friend ....., and I would end up catching a taxi to the start, as 1000's of people were heading to the MARTA station. Next year, I promise to get it right! :o)