Georgia Marathon Sunday; Peachtree Online Lottery Starts Thursday

From Patch Reports

Registration for the 2012 AJC Peachtree Road Race opens at 7 a.m. Thursday, the Atlanta Track Club announced.

The online lottery for the 43rd annual race can be found at ajc.com/peachtree. Those wishing to be one of the 60,000 participants in the race have from 7 a.m. Thursday until 11:59 p.m. Thursday, March 22, to register online.

Entrants will receive an e-mail by Monday, March 26, informing them whether or not they were selected for the 2012 event, the track club announcment said.

Additional information including registration, start wave placement details and specifics on the Peachtree Health and Fitness Expo are available at peachtreeroadrace.org.

Before that July 4th tradition, though, more than 16,000 runners are expected to hit the streets of Atlanta for the Publix Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon on Sunday, at 7 a.m.

The race course will travel through metro Atlanta’s most interesting and historic areas including the Sweet Auburn District, Inman Park, Decatur, Druid Hills, Virginia-Highland and Midtown. Along the way, runners will pass landmarks including the King Historic Site, Carter Center, four college campuses and Piedmont Park. 

“As the marathon continues to grow each year, it continues to be a focus of community spirit,” District 2 City Councilmember Alex Wan said in a statement. “I’m particularly excited that it showcases so many wonderful Atlanta neighborhoods to thousands of this event’s participants.”

See here for a detailed course description. There will be full and partial road closures for much of the morning of the race with a few westside streets open only to runners until around 2 p.m. A list of street lane closures and estimated times is with this article.

Additional races during the weekend include the Cuties Luckie 5K and Kids Fun Run on Saturday beginning at 8 a.m. The events will start and finish at Centennial Olympic Park and run through downtown’s Luckie Marietta District.  Participants can sign up online at www.georgiamarathon.com.

Publix Georgia Marathon race weekend will also provide enthusiasts a chance to receive health and fitness tips and purchase running gear at the Publix Georgia Marathon Health & Fitness Expo held at the Georgia World Congress Center Friday-Saturday, March 16-17.