On one warm, 80-degree Independence Day in 1970, 150 runners lined up and made history.
They were racing in the inaugural AJC Peachtree Road Race — what would become, today, the largest 10K in the world, with more than 60,000 runners. (More than 500 times the race's original size.)
The storied race has become a July 4th tradition in Atlanta. Of that original group of 150 runners, 110 finished the race. Of those, three were women. Jeff Galloway was the first person to cross the finish line.
It is with those original 110 runners in mind that we count down the days until the 2019’s AJC Peachtree Road Race, and remember that very first race 49 years ago.
The course took them 6.2 miles, beginning at the corner of Peachtree Road and West Paces Ferry Road, near the old Sears store, which is no longer there. At 9:30 that morning the “original 110” — after paying an entry fee of $2 — ran from Buckhead to the Equitable Plaza downtown, just north of Five Points.
The road race was a year in the making, an effort by the Atlanta Track Club to create a more inclusive atmosphere, where all runners were celebrated. It was the brainchild of the club's Tim Singleton, who suggested something else: Giving the finishers commemorative T-shirts.
It actually wasn't until the following year that those coveted T-shirts were handed out. And In 1976, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution became the race's title sponsor.
Read more about the history and people of the AJC Peachtree Road Race
> 48 years of T-shirts from the AJC Peachtree Road Race
> Where is it? See a map and 360 video of the AJC Peachtree Road Race course
> Here's what you should know about the AJC Peachtree Road Race Expo, race number pickup
> Jeff Galloway: First winner still runs strong, just not at the front
> Gayle Barron blazed a trail as first female AJC Peachtree Road Race winner
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