Atlanta Track Club Exec Dir RICH KENAH is a former Olympic runner still committed to promoting the sport, and this weekend he will gear up for his organization's flagship event -- the AJC Peachtree Road Race. Kenah: "This is our Super Bowl weekend. It is the world’s largest 10K." Kenah, who ran in the 800m at the '00 Sydney Games, calls the event the "world’s largest running party." Kenah: "As a retired Olympic athlete, I’m a bit of an adrenaline junkie. When you head into a big event you get those butterflies. You get the nerves, but that’s really what prepares you for a big performance. I get those same feelings in this position ahead of the Peachtree. It is stressful, but it’s also something I look forward to every year."
AND WE'RE OFF: This week, we’ve been preparing to get 50,000 people from point A to point B. In terms of what the weekend actually looks like, it’s one of those checking my list once, twice, fifty times sort of thing. The race itself takes anywhere from 28 minutes if you’re an elite athlete to two hours for some of our walking participants. But it takes so much to build the infrastructure. The last 48 hours leading into the race also bring a good number of our participants to the Georgia World Congress Center for a two-day health and fitness expo. There we have more than 100 vendors and our participants also pick up their bid numbers. In the last maybe 12 hours, I spend most of my time at the start line making sure that we are ready to receive our participants as they begin.
CITY IS ALIVE: This will be my fourth Peachtree, and as a transplant to Atlanta, what I have found here is one of the most vibrant running communities anywhere in the world. I say that having raced all around the U.S. and in more than 35 other countries. We’re proud of our event, we’re proud of our running community and we take July 4th pretty seriously. That said, Atlanta is not flat, so it’s not for the faint of heart. If you’re coming in from outside Georgia, you better get ready for a few hills. An interesting fact about our race is that about 90% of the participants are from the state of Georgia. But we do have 47 states and 21 countries represented as well. So while it’s largely a local-regional phenomenon, there’s a national and international following.
THE COOL DOWN: After the race, I always say we’re going to go watch some fireworks, but then I only make it to about 8:45pm. Then the next thing I know it’s 5:00am. So it’s some sleepless nights heading into the race and then I fall asleep before the fireworks. Maybe celebrate the next weekend?
IN THE MEANTIME: I live in Brookhaven and our favorite restaurant is this Irish pub called Olde Blind Dog. Anytime the TV is on in our house, it’s either “AMERICA’S GOT TALENT” for my wife and daughter or an NBA game for my son. We moved here right as the Hawks had a really strong season so we’ve become avid fans. DENNIS SCHRÖDER is the favorite player in the Kenah house.
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