Michael Dowling

Hometown: Decatur, GA

Races Completed: Eight marathons, 11 half marathons

Favorite Streaker Gift: Baseball cap with "Streaker" embroidered on it is tops for me

Favorite Memories: Two favorites: 1. Before the first ING Georgia Marathon, I had never crossed the Jackson Street bridge with its SPECTACULAR view of Atlanta. As we crossed over, the sun was rising to our our left, the sky exploded with color, and the towers sparkled in the cool air. Beautiful city and great race for me! (Finish time: 3:26) 2. Covid year at the ATL Speedway was a truly weird, memorable scene. Small groups of isolated runners started in staggered waves in a thick mist that made you feel like you were on your own for the first half - you could see NO ONE. The course was flat but for one enormous man-made hill as you shot up towards the tailgating zone above one side of the track and a subterranean plunge towards the end as runners cut under to enter the Speedway itself. I had nurtured visions of mimicking the performance of my high school buddy's '70 Chevelle SS back in 1984, but that was sadly not the way I felt as a rounded those final curves. Those car tracks are LONG! (Finish time: 3:34)

Reminiscing on 2020: The 2020 event was certainly memorable. Weekend started with the US Olympic Team Trials, and crowds were pumped up cheering them on. Crowd favorites Galen Rupp and Molly Seidel made the team! An old high school CC friend who helped coach the Army's team had two in the men's Top 5, including 2017 Peachtree winner Leonard Korir. The team had finally switched from their simple white singlets with ARMY done to mimic the black electrical tape letters from their first "official" uniform to an infantry camo singlet, so they were really visible. Race for the rest of us on the following day (March 1st) was excellent. Later that month, we all went on Covid lockdown and isolation, so that year's event was a veritable highlight before stormy times.

Fave Swag to Celebrate: I use my favorites during track or speedwork sessions, so I guess this is a celebration of the efforts! My favorites to run in are the orange with the long P and two of the green short-sleeved shirts.