On a New Track: Simulating the Peachtree Road Race
Image: 2016 AJC Peachtree Road Race, Paul Kim for Atlanta Track Club
written by Miranda Allegar - September 22, 2020
As the pandemic rages on without end in sight, the virtual space becomes home to more and more aspects of our daily lives and passions. While the past few months have seen the realm of sports introduce soundscapes of canned audience reactions to live games, the Peachtree Road Race now introduces soundscapes of a massive road race for solo runners. As announced on August 19, after initial attempts to delay the 51st annual AJC Peachtree Road Race, the race will be moving its 60,000 participants to a virtual format. So far, about 36,000 participants have opted in to the new format, per a report given to NPR.
The Peachtree Road Race has taken place annually in Atlanta, GA on July 4th every year since 1970. This year, unlike any previous year, racers will have their race kits shipped to them and will run their 10k races on their own paths while watching along on the app, reporting the results through a proprietary app. In addition to the race, for which racers will be able to submit results between November 26 and November 29, participants will also receive access to a 10-week training plan.
Yet, what makes the virtual running of the Peachtree distinct from a traditional run-tracking app is the ways in which it borrows from the notions of soundscapes and immersive online experiences. Within the race app, participants will be able to run to the sounds of the Peachtree race as they remember it. As Rich Kenah of the Atlanta Track Club reported to NPR, the app will integrate the sounds of announcers, music, audio, and visual markers from the traditional race path, and the annual blessing with holy water by Dean Candler as racers pass the Cathedral of St. Philip. The latter tradition has continued since the race occurred on a Sunday in 1999, as confirmed by Candler himself in an article about his annual blessings from 2009. The church has continued to welcome runners for blessings each year since.
Image: Run-by Blessing of the Peachtree Road Race, John Boydston
Image: Blessing by Dean Candler of the Peachtree Road Race
The Peachtree Road Race asks us to consider the elements that constitute our in-person traditions, transforming something like a 10k race from just a long run to a cherished event. These sights, sounds, and people integrated into the app experience are the elements that make the event what it is. As we continue to live our lives within the pandemic, we increasingly become able to identify what exactly we miss about life as we knew it before, situating ourselves in time and place abstractly through sound design and narrative creation. The Peachtree Road Race exemplifies the ways in which these elements of performance now leak out of theater and into community-building of other kinds––sports, in this case. In doing so, as proved by the example of the Peachtree Road Race, we can hope to recreate landmarks of our normal lives as truthfully as possible while still staying safe and socially distanced.
