19/51 Peachtree Road Race.
On July 4, 1970, 150 runners gathered in the parking lot of Sears & Roebuck on the corner of Peachtree and Roswell Roads and ran 6.2 miles to the Central City Park finish line in the inaugural Peachtree Road Race.
The following year, the coveted runners’ t-shirts debuted. Organized by the Atlanta Track Club, the race has become one of Atlanta’s premiere Independence Day traditions and the largest 10K event in the world.
In 1982, the Shepherd Center’s Wheelchair Division was added. Since then, the event has produced several world record-breaking performances. In 2011, participants first registered through an online lottery system with a race cap set at 60,000. Today, the race begins at Lenox Square and ends at Piedmont Park.
Atlanta Track Club is committed to creating an active and healthy Atlanta through world class events, training programs, and community outreach activities. With more than 24,000 members, Atlanta Track Club is the second largest running organization in the United States. Today, Atlanta Track Club presents over thirty events per year throughout the Atlanta area, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, PNC Atlanta 10 Miler and 5K, Atlanta 10-Miler, and the Invesco QQQ Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon and 5K.
Peachtree Road Race T-Shirt, 1971.
Object & Image:
Courtesy of Atlanta Track Club
Next: 20 CNN.
Local media mogul Ted Turner launched Cable News Network (CNN) in June 1980, the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage.