Peachtree Road Race 2008 (and an angry asian man)

i ran the peachtree road race on july 4th. an atlanta tradition in which i have never participated. i got up at 4:50 am and left an hour later for the marta station. my girlfriend dropped me off in the dark wearing only my racing number and small running shorts. i took exact change to buy my train ticket. as i put the money in the machine i realized i did not have enough. twenty five cents short. i had no more money. no more pockets. no cell phone. i explained my quandary to the nice marta employee lady and she gave me a quarter. she saved a nervous man's running career.

it was a rare sight to see only white people in sports attire waiting on the train in the dark. packed like sardines under the streets of atlanta. when we walked back out onto the streets of buckhead there were 4 helicopters overhead. the sun was yet to come up but the dawn was a glowin'. all the roads were closed. full of walking folks. it was like a movie set. i stood around for quite a long time. almost 2 hours! the first runners were done and cooled down before i even began to run.

i listened to some folks talk. i saw some folks in costumes. men in pink shorts. men in country club outfits. a man with a giant afro. pretty people. odd people. old and young and small and tall. i even saw a dwarf. run dwarf run. i ran faster that the average and i stayed to the left as instructed for the speedier than joe folks. i spent my time concentrating on the road and curbs and legs and heels as not to trip. i saw people serving cake. people handing out free t-shirts. people preaching. greyhounds wearing hats. coffee. politicians. a half naked man standing on a bench yelling as loud as possible to the runners. old women in patriotic garb. i shook rep. john lewis' hand. he is a short stout man. i heard bits of conversation as i ran by. seems like the know-it-alls always make comments. if you know it all then why aren't you running? i kept running.

the cardiac hill portion of the race which the local news always speaks of with fear was no problem. they always speak of fear. people had thrown many plastic drinking cups down on the street and it was wild to hear hundreds of people stepping simultaneously on hundreds of plastic cups. 6.2 miles went by fast. before i knew it i had finished the race. actually it took me 58 minutes and 24 seconds from when i crossed the start to the finish line. i felt pretty good. i was very sweaty since the temperature was in the 80s...along with the humidity.

i flowed through all the people in the streets to the spot where i was to meet my parents. they wanted to pick me up. i found them and we walked several blocks back to their car, powered with biodiesel. the car that is.

i needed to make a pit stop. i darted into some trees and bushes. i saw a man standing there. i said hello as i noticed he was asian and very angry. very disturbed and very angry. he glared at me like a hungry samurai warrior sans the sword...i think. he even was wearing some sort of blue military jacket. i turned and ran away. i was confused and forgot i needed to make a pit stop. i told my parents we should go.

i went home with my peachtree road race t-shirt and a brain full of interesting sights and sounds.

i wonder what the angry asian is doing now?