The last time Julia Emmons participated in the Peachtree Road Race, the computer put her starting position way in the back of the crowd of 60,000, with the U-V-W wave.
No harm, she thought. Emmons, former city councilperson, didn’t expect any special treatment. Yes, for 22 years she was the boss of the whole event, as the director of the Atlanta Track Club. And she was a competitor. In 1972 she came in second.
On the other hand, 1972 was a long time ago. Now in her 80s, Emmons gave up directing the Track Club — and running the Peachtree — 18 years ago. Now she walks the race. Maybe a phone call might have given her a fancier starting position, but she said, “I’m not a celebrity so I enter wherever the computer tells me to go.”
“It turned out to be wonderful fun,” said the Midtown resident, just back from a walking tour in Normandy and Brittany in France. The folks in the back of the Peachtree pack were relaxed and happy to be there, a spirit she calls the “esprit de U.”
A friend waited for her at Colony Square with a big sign that said “HEY U!” and Rev. Sam Candler was still on hand, even at that late hour, to bless the runners with holy water outside the Cathedral of St. Philip.
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Up until 2006 she was perhaps the only director of a major national race who also participated in the race as a runner, checking water stops, talking to volunteers, watching for problems. The AJC talked with her about running a race while running the race.
Q: Why did you participate as a runner every year?
A: I ran the race myself to make sure it worked. In my first year, in 1985, I rode the press truck. Then I got a letter from somebody who asked ‘did I know the children were crying?’ I decided to run the race and see the crying children. I found out there were itty-bitty kids way toward the front. That’s the year we (created) the 10 year-old-rule (no entrants under age 10), and started the Peachtree Junior.
Q: Why did you quit running and start walking the Peachtree?
A: In 2007 I was no longer in charge and I quit running for a decade. I didn’t want to run it and see something wrong and not be able to fix it. In the 50th year (2019) they did drag me out of mothballs. They sort of had to. I went down there with Bill Thorn, the only man who ever ran all of them, and a personal friend. From then on I walk the race if I’m in town. I enter it and see what the computer does.
Q: Is walking still racing?
A: I can probably walk a fast 16-minute mile, which is pretty good. I’m serious. I have two close friends, both of whom are roughly in my age group, and we are in serious competition. We do care who of the three of us comes in first. The competitive spirit lingers on into the decades. Not that anyone else cares.
Q: What does the Peachtree Road Race mean to the city of Atlanta?
A: I can speak for the years when I was most involved. There were three things that were big that tied the city together when I took over in 1985: the Great Raft Race on the Chattahoochee, Light Up Atlanta and the Peachtree Road Race. Light up Atlanta and the Raft Race failed, because they didn’t keep it all in order. You can have great huge things as long as they are well organized and safe and joyous.
We were left as the only thing that really tied the city together. I really respected that. I used to say that the road race was the one time this huge sprawling city of ours gets together, points in the same direction and accomplishes something all together no matter what part of town you are from and who you are.
The secret of it is we really cared. We never took the city for granted. They loved us and we honored that love.
Registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race runs through June 15. Read more of our People of Peachtree series and find all of our race-related stories at ajc.com/peachtree.
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