In the dark hours before dawn on Saturday, in 27 degree weather befitting of the name polar, nearly 5,000 registered runners lined up near Piedmont Park to participate in the inaugural AJC Polar Opposite Peachtree Road Race.
It was cold enough to see breath at the start as runners huddled, rubbing their hands to warm their fingers and jogging in place to keep their muscles from stiffening. By the last few miles of the 10K — which follows the same course as the summertime Peachtree race, only in reverse — runners were sweating, pushing hard up the last incline toward the finish line at Lenox Square.
“Mother Nature delivered us this on-brand, polar-like day, but with a blue sky and the sun out,” said Rich Kenah, CEO of Atlanta Track Club, the nonprofit group that organizes both Peachtree races and has roughly 37,000 members.
When registration opened for the new race on Nov. 1, 2024, Kenah said he was surprised by how fast the 5,000 limited slots filled up within just three hours.
“We had an instinct and we knew that the ‘Peachtree Faithful,’ as we call them, would have an interest in this concept, but we weren’t sure,” he said. “As soon as we opened up our registration and saw the number of people that were registering so quickly, it was a great moment and confirmation of what the Peachtree means to the Atlanta community.”
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Further confirmation came through the smiles on runners’ faces at the finish as volunteers awarded medals and handed out thousands of bananas and hydration drinks as a DJ spun music. The feeling of triumph was contagious.
“Seeing smile after smile after smile. … Everyone has had a great experience,” Kenah said.
The top three male finishers and top three female finishers earned prize money: first place earned $500, second $250 and third $125. Giant checks were presented on a stage. Nearby, groups of runners took commemorative photos with an artificial snowblower billowing out flakes.
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Lars Poettgen, 23, of the Summerhill neighborhood of Atlanta, with a finishing time of 34:58, and Laura Pifer, 40, of Suwanee, with a finishing time of 36:26, came in first place in the male and female categories.
“It’s exciting,” Pifer said. “I never expect to win, because you never know, but I did come in with confidence.”
Pifer, a member of the Atlanta Track Club, ran another marathon just two weeks ago.
“I wasn’t sure how it was going to feel, but instead of taking a break after a marathon like most people do, I was like ‘this will be my finish,’” she said. She will go on hiatus until March’s Publix Atlanta Marathon.
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Poettgen said his highlight was when he passed six or seven racers in the final stretch of the race. He also beat his personal best record time by a minute and a half. The colder temperature, he said, helped him.
“We run and train here in the heat all year long. Having these colder races is a huge benefit to keep the heart rate low and to run a little faster,” he said.
In addition to attracting elite runners, the race gathered many families. Molly Hill, 8, stood at the finish line with a yellow poster board reading “Go Katie run!” to champion her sister, 14-year-old Katie Hill. Their proud mother, Ansley Hill, brought the girls from La Grange on Friday night before the race to stay in a nearby hotel.
“We’re kind of making it a family thing,” Ansley Hill said. Katie “heard about this race and I got online as early as possible to sign her up and we’ve looked forward to it all through the Christmas holiday.”
Katie Hill said the last stretch challenged her the most.
“The last two miles were hard. They were really hard. I kind of died,” she said, but her sister’s sign helped. “It gave me a little kick at the end.”
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Aaron Kearney, father of a 17-year-old racer from Jasper, was found cheering on the sidelines. He and a fellow dad call themselves “the sherpas” because they’ve been coming to support their teenagers and wives cross the finish line of various races throughout the year. The Polar Opposite was their fourth time as “sherpas” in 13 months.
Members of running clubs, including Atlanta Track Club, Atlanta Run Club and Mindful Miles Club, were well represented.
Katherine Iwasaki, 30, of Johns Creek and a member of Mindful Miles Club out of Chamblee, was one of them.
“I loved the energy,” she said. “I think it’s the inaugural race, so everybody’s really pumped. … The registration period was done in a few hours, so everybody who’s here really wanted to be here today and you could feel that for sure.”
Eric Campbell, 43, of Fairburn, who runs with Atlanta Run Club, has done the summer Peachtree race seven times. This time, he had hand warmers taped to his feet and hands. He too struggled up the last incline, but he said the colder weather was a good trade-off.
“Usually during the summer I’m sweating, I’m out of breath, it’s humid,” he said.
The first Polar Opposite Peachtree Road Race has runners looking forward to next year’s, which Kenah plans to make happen.
“We’ll grow responsibly,” he said. “We recognize that on the Fourth of July we shut down the entire city and what we did today was a very careful, very measured 5,000 people to make sure we minimize impact on residents and businesses.”
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Credit: Courtesy of Halliburton Photo
Find results of the race at the Atlanta Track Club.
