Registration for the AJC Peachtree Road Race, an Independence Day tradition, will open March 15 – this time with a promise to provide “consideration and options” in case the coronavirus forces a cancelation.
“We hope and expect to celebrate running and walking on Independence Day as Atlanta always does,” said Rich Kenah, executive director of Atlanta Track Club and the race’s director, in a press release. “The Club has received no information from health officials indicating that the Peachtree is at risk of not happening on the Fourth of July. But as Atlanta and the rest of the country deals with COVID-19 [the disease caused by the coronavirus], Atlanta Track Club understands the unprecedented situation facing public events.”
The press release said, “While the Club has had a no refund policy in place for all of its events, it announced it will not retain Peachtree entry fees without offering participants consideration and options if the Peachtree is unable to be held in 2020.”
Many major institutions and events recently announced cancelations through late March or early April as part of attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The Peachtree Road Race’s statement is among the first to express caution about major events farther along on the 2020 calendar.
The 10K race, marking its 51st year, begins at Buckhead’s Lenox Square mall with a route including Midtown, Piedmont Park and Centennial Olympic Park. It draws tens of thousands of participants.
The registration period runs March 15-31 for lottery registrants and guaranteed member entries. For more information, see atlantatrackclub.org/peachtree.