The Peachtree Road Race has become an annual ritual for me by now. The running takes place on 4th of July every year, but that is only the second step of the annual ritual. The first step takes place way back in March, where runners would submit their registration. Those who register before the quota fills up get to receive a number and run.

The race starts at 7.30 am, but with the more than 50,000 participants, the event adopts a “wave start” approach. That is runners are divided into groups and each group has its own starting time, minutes apart from each other. The first digit of your race number tells you which time group you are in. This year I was in group 7, scheduled to start at 8.33 am.

In the past years, I would arrive in time for the official start and listen to people sing the Start-Spangled Banner. I would wait in my time group’s holding area and have my already warmed up body  cooled down from the wait before I could actually run. This year, I arrived way after Time Group 1 set off, but in time for the start of Time Group 7.

Running the course, like I said last year, need not be taken too seriously. I just ran, treated it as another training run, but soaking in the cheers from the spectators. Once a year, we all take part in these festivities of the City of Atlanta. Finish the 10k, and earn another t-shirt to add to the collection.