Waching daily Jul 2 2018

I love running in Atlanta. I started running in Atlanta,

I pioneered a lot of the running routes here and as soon as

I heard there was going to be a race down Peachtree Street I was in.

The beauty of Atlanta is that people get up on their feet early in the morning and go out and get active.

One year I ran the race and it was pouring rain. They paused the race for a little bit but it never stopped anybody.

My favorite memory would be the first Peachtree Road Race that we competed in

Absolutely Peachtree all the way

Anytime you have 60,000 people coming together on a hot humid summer

day for the sake of running then you know it's something really special about

the city and special about the people who call Atlanta home over.

Over the next 50 years, movement has become a movement here

That little 10K became the largest road race in the United States and the Peachtree paved the way for a healthier, more active Atlanta

I lived in Atlanta from 1980 to 1995 and then I was gone for over 20 years and I've been back now

a year and a half and I'm just amazed at how the city really has become a very

run-centric city

A lot more people are running and walking and getting exercise these days

I think people are really starting to hone in on "Hey health is important and we need to keep moving."

In Atlanta our traffic is infamous, but it's our foot traffic that is redefining this city.

People of all ages, color, creed and speed are filling up Atlanta's sidewalks, parks and paths

Atlanta is a great running town, it's a great biking town, it' s great walking town.

It's real hard to beat running in Piedmont Park because if you want to run long you can go onto the Beltline

if you want to run short you can just stay in the park, it's a pretty cool place to run

The community has embraced running and walking so it's super infectious.

A great way to experience Atlanta is by running

you can run on the Beltline, it's amazing, old historic neighborhoods

It really doesn't matter if you're the most accomplished runner or if you're a

beginner it's more about being out there with friends and family

My favorite part of Atlanta is just the diversity of the run groups and the runners within the city

and the most beautiful thing is that when I step out my door at four o'clock in

the morning, I'm still never alone.

The more you run through the city and the various neighborhoods, the city itself becomes more connected and people feel closer.

And that heat that made skeptics shake their heat at those first 110 Peachtree runners?

We wear it as a badge of honor.

We have the heat, we have the hills, we have the humidity and we run through that all year round.

So... tell me who's better than us.

Being here and knowing that we have a history of having the

Olympic Games here people are more involved in sport.

You start off walking, graduate to jogging, and then get to running and it's because it makes you feel good

Atlanta is

Atlanta is

Atlanta is Running City USA and I'm proud of that