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The historic Peachtree Road Race began in 1970, created by the Atlanta Track Club. The 10k run sees runners of all ages racing through the streets of Atlanta on the 4th of July. This year, Adidas invited the top 20 high schoolers in the state to participate in the race, also providing each with $1,000 worth of Adidas gear. One of these top high schoolers was none other than GCA’s own Walker Elrod, who finished 86th out of 43,184 overall, with a time of 34:09. In his specific bracket (males, age 15-19 years old), Elrod came in 8th place out of 1,194.

Elrod commented on the experience, specifically getting to see and spend time with professional track runners.

“They were really cool to watch,” he said. “I got to see what the next level is like.”

As for the run itself, Elrod remarked that “It was pretty hard,” mostly owing to a hilly latter half.

Even with such a large run behind him, Elrod isn’t wasting any time resting on his laurels; he is currently training for next season in Flagstaff, Arizona. Specifically, he is undergoing high-altitude training in Flagstaff, which sits roughly 7,000 feet above sea level. While he only had 10 days of this training last year, Elrod says he will complete four weeks of training this year.

He certainly has his sights set high for this year, hoping to break 15 minutes in a 5k, and to become one of the top 5 fastest students in Georgia.