Lance Brady is running his 44th consecutive Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race this year. He and his wife, Genie, have three daughters. The reason for first running the race was for the family aspect. Lance and Genie were looking to instill in their young daughters what it’s like to want to work toward something and to have a goal to accomplish.
Genie said, “It was always important to him (Lance) that our girls knew they could do whatever they wanted to do.”
Lance and Genie aren’t from Atlanta originally; they moved all around growing up through both being military children. It was after Lance graduated from Georgia Tech and became a helicopter pilot in the army that he moved back to Atlanta for good.
In 1980, Lance, Genie, and their three young daughters – Colin, Drew and Meredith – watched the Peachtree Road Race on television when he decided that is what he wanted to do.
Watching with his family, Lance said, “OK, we’re gonna run that race next year.”
Right away, the Brady family started preparing for the race, and the very first year, there was even an incentive: If everyone finished the race, they would get a beach trip.
Lance said, “We did our first practice run for the Peachtree in January. We decided to run the course. So we got our coats on, and we did the course. We could’ve done it faster except we stopped and ate at Fellini’s pizza.”
Genie said, “We would get up in the morning and go before church, we would run all the time after school, or a Saturday or Sunday morning before we get out, we were running on a pretty good schedule.”
All members of the Brady family worked hard that year for the race in July. And when July came around, the Brady family even wore matching outfits.
Lance said, “We had our names on our backs because we were at the very back. I ran with one of my daughters, and Genie ran with the other two and once we passed people, since we had our names on our backs, they would scream our names.”
After the Brady family ran it for multiple years, Lance then made it optional for his family. However, as the Brady daughters grew up, got married, and had children, all of their family members have run it one time or another.
The whole motivation for Lance wanting to run the Peachtree was because of the tradition the race held and the experience of it all.
He said, “The motivation was that’s what I do on the Fourth of July.” He continued, “Some years I would train more, and some less. The times were never great. … I’m not really looking for that, I’m looking for more for just the experience.”
Even in times when Lance couldn’t exactly run in the race because of an injury, he was still at the start line ready to walk it.
He said, “Last year I pulled a groin muscle like a month before the race, and I said, ‘I’m still going to do the race, but I’m going to walk it this year.’”
To the grandchildren, Lance being injured wasn’t a good thing, but for the ones that were running, it meant they were able to stay with him.
Lance said, “All of the grandkids that were running said, ‘I’ll run with him!’ They wanted to be able to go very slowly because they hadn’t trained either.” He continued (laughing), “So I set up a bidding war on who would get to run with me.”
Credit: Photo contributed by Brady family
Credit: Photo contributed by Brady family
Aside from having the joy to be with his family, Lance also loved running the Peachtree because it allowed him the opportunity to understand more about other peoples’ stories, as everyone has a story.
He said, “Last year we ran up on the guy and he was blind. He was probably my age, and he had runners who were holding onto his elbows and they were running.”
Lance engaged with him, and with others alongside the race.
He continued, “I’ve talked to some wonderful people along the years because people put stuff on the back of their jersey and most people who run the pace I run, they’re open for conversation.”
Through having all of his family members run various years, one of Lance’s favorite memories was having his family reunite at the finish line.
He said, “The thing I always like is when we gather after the finish line because I think the most we’ve had running at one time was like 12 or something, and they scatter and then rejoin at the finish line.”
He continued, “And you know, that to me is just a great time to see everybody and get back together. It gives you a feeling of, you know, it’s just a little bit like heaven, you get separated along the way but when I get to heaven, we’ll all be right there together.”
Lance started a family tradition with the Peachtree that has carried through the generations of his family. He and his wife started entering this race to teach their daughters to set a goal, which carried into their own daughters being able to instill the same thing into their kids, and for generations to come.
Whether it was training in advance for it, or not training at all, there was always a goal set in place to find the finish line and to work hard for it.
Genie said, “Stick with it. Work hard, it’s worth the effort on the back end, all that you’ve invested, it’s worth it when you’re finished.”
Lance and his grandson Brady will be running it this year along with Brady’s wife.
Lance said, “I’m just going to keep running it until for some reason I can’t anymore.”
