My Peachtree Road Race Prep

By Bill Craig



First of all, I really picked myself a challenge, didn’t I? 74 years old, 28 pounds overweight and less than 2 months to get myself trained up.


The last time I ran the Peachtree, I also ran the Atlanta Half-Marathon, planning to run the “Full” a year later, in 1991. It’s good I kept my number, because The Atlanta Track Club had a fire and records from that date were destroyed. I remembered that date and my finish time which I shared with the Then-Director Julia Emmons, who allowed me to replace my own, lost medal on the strength of knowing my number. Julia served for 22 years as Director and from all accounts did a fantastic job.


While I won’t share my official time with you, I will tell you I finished before they picked up the cones and was so overcome with emotion that I finished at all, that I dropped to the ground and hugged my friend Ed and his wife. I still think Ed ran a bet sheet on me, which he denies to this day.


This year, for the 4th Of July Road Race, I knew I would need help, and boy, is that an understatement! The lady who got the job of being my guide goes by the name of Mia and I have not asked her yet if she wishes she could’ve swapped runners’ guide volunteer with someone else, but from what I have read, her notes reveal her to be a wonderful lady who is happy to be of assistance to this old “Geezer” and will be just as happy to see me cross that finish line as I will be. 


We created a warrior on  World Of Warcraft in her honor, and as I run on that day, so will “Mia’s Runner” - only he will be running from quest to quest and “levelling up” his skills with sword and brain. From the number of questions I have asked already, I suspect the sword will be his weapon of choice.


I want to thank Mia beforehand for making this possible for me, because the lady who is “Number One” in my life will need me to be at my best on that day. Dondra gave me special permission to train, and we both arranged my training sessions to coincide with her dialysis. In that way, I can be sure someone will be with her to watch over her.


The rest of my “Prep” I will include here in the style of a “Protracted Sports Column”. I’ll be working on Endurance beginning on May 13th, so on that day I’ll “report” my success or failure. 


Thanks, as always, for reading.

Comments

Argentrose said…
This is so good as a journal entry, Bill! I'm so excited for you! And that last song is a banger! Definitely getting me hyped up for all the good stuff you're about to be doing. I'm cheering you on here from California! <3 Jenni
May 10, 2024 at 12:23 AM
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