Start

Peachtree Road Race logo featuring a peach icon, red stars, and bold red and black text in a shield design.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race starts in Buckhead near Lenox Square Mall and ends in Piedmont Park.

Start Map

2025 Start Map Coming Soon

View start area road closures

Start Time

The start line is located just outside Lenox Square Mall entrance. Start waves will be staged along Peachtree Street to Peachtree Dunwoody Road. Volunteers will help guide participants to their start wave staging location, see the Start Map for staging locations at the race start. Plan to arrive by 6:30 a.m. to find your start wave. Once the race begins at 7:00 a.m. the start waves will begin advancing approximately every 5 minutes thereafter, and it will become difficult to find your wave as the corral is relocated.

Start Waves

Start wave assignments for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race are performance-based. During registration, all participants have the opportunity to enter valid results from a previous USATF-certified race within the established guidelines provided below. Start waves are assigned to participants based on the qualifying time submitted during registration. Participants who do not enter qualifying times are placed in later start waves. Read more about time verification below.

Start Wave Standards

Participants in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race will know which start wave they will be assigned before they even register for the race. The below standards were released in February 2024. Atlanta Track Club members are guaranteed to be placed in Wave M or earlier. Waves are assigned based on standards listed below. If you find yourself in a different start wave from someone you would like to participate with, you can simply move back to participate together.

2025 Start Wave Standards

Start Wave Placement & Time Verification

For those who register for the Peachtree and submit a qualifying time, the time verification process will be conducted by a group of people who work through the process of manually verifying thousands of registrants.

You will be approved as long as your qualifying time is from:

  • A 5K or 10K race
  • A race that took place from January 1, 2023 to the date you register
  • A race that was on a USATF-certified course

If you are approved, you will be assigned a Start Wave based on the qualifying time you submitted, not your submitted estimated finish time.

You will be denied if your qualifying time is:

  • A race distance other than a 5K or 10K
  • A race that took place before January 1, 2023 or after you register
  • Submit a race that is not on a USATF-certified course
  • A virtual race, a cross country race (excluding Wingfoot XC Classic), a trail race or your run of the day

If you fail to resubmit a qualifying time that meets the requirements, you will be assigned to a later wave.

For those who register for the Peachtree and do not submit a qualifying time, you are assigned a later wave.

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this process, please send a detailed email with your first name, last name and email address to peachtree@atlantatrackclub.org.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION