Atlanta Half Marathon in Review

In March I ran the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon with my daughter Cate.  It was a last minute decision for me, but the timing was perfect. Cate was coming in from Chicago, I was up for a road trip and was looking forward to running the race with her.

Here's a look back at the race through photos...

Pre-race fuel.

I am a fan of these Clif Crunch Bars and this is the newest flavor. 

It is fantastic, but not yet available in Orlando so Cate brought one for me.

We took Marta to avoid the traffic, but so did a few others.  This was a BIG race, about 15,000.  Both the half and full marathoners ran together for the first 7 miles.  

This was my seventh half marathon and I can still remember how I felt after my first.  I thought it was the hardest thing I had ever done.  I couldn't imagine ever doing another, and I was sore for days.  I never imagined I would grow to like them, but here I was running my third one this year. 

We were in one of the last few corrals, but because they had a rolling start it only took 10 minutes for us to cross the start line by the CNN Center.

 The race course took us through many parts of Atlanta starting with Georgia State University campus.

Mile 2 - Publix Mile

Publix was the sponsor of this race and supported us with bands and messages of encouragement along the way.

Sunrise

Mile 3- 

A view of the Atlanta skyline from the Jackson Street Bridge. 

The residents of the 4th Ward dressed up their neighborhood and cheered us on as we passed through.  I learned this is the part of Atlanta that Martin Luther King Jr. is from.

We ran through many nice neighborhoods like Inman Park, Atlanta's first suburb and the course was not crowded at all.

Mile 4

Mile 5

This is where we parted ways with those running the marathon.

Mile 7

This guy gave us a good laugh and we saw  him in the newspaper the next day for his creative idea.

Yes, this is a bunny on a leash.  His owner said he was happy, but he looks a little scared to me.

Generous spectators handed out croissants at mile 8.  We couldn't pass that up.

This course was SO hilly.  This was just one of many.

Georgia Tech went all out and had an exciting section with music, balloons and "special" GA Tech water, so they said.

Mile 12

We made it and we treated to my favorite recovery drink- Chocolate Milk!!

The race ended in Centennial Olympic Park where they had a post race party with a band.

Goodies from the race included this great tech tee and a treat bag from Publix.  

The day turned out to be much hotter than expected, but the course was shady until the last few miles. I ran Cate's race and her goal was to beat 3 hours, she shattered that by finishing in 2:44!  We had a great time running together and sharing the experience. This race was the perfect way to see Atlanta's historic neighborhoods and city parks and I would recommend it.  Great swag, great expo, great medal, great course, hills and all!