Georgia > ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon Atlanta,
GA addthis
Date
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Event
Details
With just two years under its belt as an established road race in
Atlanta, the ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon is already
one of the biggest running
events of its kind anywhere in the state. Just like its first running
in the spring of 2007, this year's run brought about 15,000 runners out
from around the country to take to the streets of Atlanta, for a
sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny run that was great for participants,
but a little tough on spectators, especially at the finish line, as
temperatures had dropped and the
winds had picked up by the time runners were finishing the race.
The race this year was again an out-and-back race through the city,
though with a new starting and finish line -- last year's start at
downtown Atlanta's Woodruff Park was moved to the larger and more
spectator-friendly Centennial Park. From there, the course followed a
mostly new route as well, though it took runners through some familiar
areas, including the Marietta Street corridor, several streets downtown
and the historic Sweet Auburn district, where Martin Luther King Jr.
lived and preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
After the stretch through the Sweet Auburn district, the course heads
through intown neighborhoods on its way to the Inman Park district,
which shows off the character of the city in its historic architecture
and tree-lined streets. The course through here is somewhat hilly and
up-and-down, but not overly taxing. There were plenty of spectators out
along this stretch of the course as well, looking up from brunch on
their balconies to shout out and give the runners some encouragement.
Running through Inman Park, the course next takes runners along a
stretch that's much hillier, the stretch along the Freedom Parkway near
the Jimmy Carter Center. This portion of the race has one fairly big
hill that lots of runners were huffing and puffing on their way up,
though the generally cloudy and cool conditions helped with stretches
like this one. As it leveled out at the top of the hill, Freedom
Parkway then dropped down again on its way toward Atlanta's
Virginia-Highland neighborhood, where there were lots more spectators
outside (even some playing live music with their own guitars and
drums).
Perhaps the most refreshing part of the race occurs when runners get to
Piedmont Park, Atlanta's largest urban park, partly because the
half-mile or so of course on the way to the park is mostly downhill,
but also because there's tons of spectators out cheering you on when
you really need it -- by this point in the race, you've run more than
nine miles already, and you're starting to feel the fatigue and wear
and tear.
The last four miles of the race feature a range of hills, mostly long,
steady uphills and downhills, through both the Georgia Institue of
Technology campus and the streets near the Coca-Cola Company world
headquarters and the Georgia Aquarium. The last stretch of the race
took runners along Marietta Street, past CNN's Atlanta headquarters to
the finish back in Centennial Park. Surprisingly, this year's course
didn't incorporate the city's signature Peachtree Street like last
year's race did, instead simply crossing it once during the race.
Overall, the course included many of the highlights of the 2007 race,
and the finish line was an improvement over the previous year.
Race
Weather & Climate
Spring in Atlanta brings an abundance of sunny days with generally
mild, moderate temperatures. On the day of the race,
temperatures average
between 44°F and 65°F.
Registration
To reserve your spot in the spring 2009 running of the ING Georgia
Marathon or Half Marathon, register online at Active.com.
