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Thousands take part in AJC Peachtree Road Race

ATLANTA — Runners are taking part Friday for the 45th annual Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race.
 
About 60,000 people were estimated to be in Buckhead for the Fourth of July event.

The men's race began at 7:30 a.m. and tracked down Peachtree Street to 10th Street in midtown Atlanta. The women's professional division began at 7:17 a.m. The wheelchair race for the AJC Peachtree Road Race started at 6:45 a.m.

Runners finished the race just outside Piedmont Park.

2014 AJC Peachtree Road Race winners:

  • Men's elite winner: Christo Landry, from Ann Arbor, Michigan
  • Women's elite winner: Amy Hastings, from Long Beach, California
  • Men's wheelchair division winner: ​Krige Schabort, from Cedartown, Georgia
  • Women's wheelchair division winner: Tatyana McFadden, from Clarksville, Maryland

The 6.2 mile course has become an annual July tradition attended by runners from across the country.
 
Many of the athletes in wheelchairs participated in a 5K race in Polk County Tuesday. McFadden finished the race in Cedartown with the world's fastest time for a female wheelchair athlete.

Hundreds of police officers were put in place hours before the first race started. More than 500 officers were placed on 12 hour shifts. They're in plain clothes, in uniform and conducting surveillance for the 6-mile race.
 
Overnight, Channel 2's Darryn Moore noticed APD officers posted along the race route. Metal gates were put up and officers were monitoring every inch of the route using video surveillance.
 
Atlanta Police Chief George Turner said his force is ready to keep the runners and 200,000 spectators safe.
 
"We'll have officers in and running the route as well," Turner said.
 
Not only are officers prepared for the race, the 12 hour detail also extends to the fireworks show at Lenox Square and Centennial Olympic Park.
 
Local troops participated in seven military races overseas Thursday night.
 
The Atlanta Track Club and Major General William Johnson staged remote starts at the AJC Peachtree Road Race starting line, near Lenox Square. More than 3,000 troops took part in the races in countries like Afghanistan and Kuwait.

Race officials told Channel 2 that certain sizes of t-shirts ran out around 10:45 a.m. The Atlanta Track Club will contact runners about how to receive their shirts.

WSBTV

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