For grandmother and granddaughter duo Susan Pease Langford and Maria Reed, watching The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race is a tradition.
Reed was about 4-years-old when they first started watching. She just turned 10 in June.
”It started one year and I didn’t really think it was going to go on how it did. We did it that one year and kept doing it,” Reed said.
Credit: Anisah Muhammad /AJC
Credit: Anisah Muhammad /AJC
She persuaded her grandmother to get there early to get a spot across from The Cathedral of St. Philip to see the wheelchair racers.
”Almost every time, we get up really early and set up our chairs,” she said.
At Cardiac Hill, Andrew Montgomery, 53, and his dog, Bingo, have been cheering on racers since around 6:30 a.m.
While this isn’t Montgomery’s first road race, it’s Bingo’s first. Typically, Montgomery walks Bingo around this time of day, but they switched up their route to come watch.
He said Cardiac Hills is a good spot to be.
Credit: Sarah Coyne
Credit: Sarah Coyne
Sophia Rossi watched with her daughter on Peachtree Road as runners continued to pass by. They, along with a group of spectators from nearby Alhambra apartments, handed out sport drinks, beer and snacks to runners.
“We are keeping up with tradition of being the party stop and also the hydration spot and also the best DJ spot,” Rossi said.
Further down on Peachtree Road, a group of spectators from Marietta offered “no water, free beer” to runners.
Closer to the start, Kevin Jacob and Zach Brewster have been supporting runners for the past 10 years.
“It’s just great to see everyone happy, everyone together and just having fun for no reason but the freedom of this country,” Jacob said.
The duo has been enjoying the race from the comfort of the sidelines, as they hand beers to runners near Pharr Road.
”We’re glad we’re not running. We’re glad we’re standing here sipping on some beer and helping hydrate these runners,” Brewster said.
This was originally published on our Live Updates page.
