Peachtree Road Race organizers take heat safety precautions ahead of 55th race

ATLANTIS – Atlanta’s favorite road race is back and better than ever. For its 55th year, organizers of the Peachtree Road Race are expecting their largest attendance since 2019.

“We have more entertainment, more bands, more community involvement, community groups and volunteers than we’ve ever had,” said race director Rich Kenah.

Kenah tells FOX 5 that amid high heat and humidity, keeping everyone cool is a priority.

“The heat is part of the charm of Peachtree, but it’s something everyone needs to be aware of,” he said. “We’re looking at this as the celebration of the summer, and we’re going to make sure everyone leaves having the best and safest time possible.”

Kenah said doctors will be on site. With nearly half of visits to medical tents being heat-related, additional changes were made this year.

“We have an army of medical professionals to my right who will be in the park to help treat and treat any heat-related illnesses that we might see,” he told FOX 5. “In the old days , we only had water bottles in the meadows, but now we cool all those water bottles, and we added misters all over the meadow because it can get hot in there after we finish run. »

Hydration points will also be present throughout the race route in addition to thousands of bottles of water made available to participants.

“We have 10 hydration stations on the course with, I believe, 11 misting stations…and then in the park we have main water for everyone, so we have about 100,000 bottles of water for everyone the world,” he explained.

Kenah says it’s essential that registrants take their own heat safety precautions in advance and be attentive to upcoming alerts from organizers.

“Our race medical officials will consult with me and we will decide which flag we will start the race with. We have a color-coded flag that really speaks to the heat and humidity,” he said.

Kenah told FOX 5 that all participants, but especially those most vulnerable to heat-related illness, will want to pay attention to the announcement they make in the coming days about which flag they will start the race under.