Atlanta race spreads to Middle East

Atlanta -- Organizers of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta allowed military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan to participate from thousands of miles away.

The Peachtree, which has been conducted on July 4 in Atlanta since 1970, draws thousands of participants every year and some, like Navy Capt. William Halicks, refuse to allow even overseas deployment to stand between them and the race, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Halicks marked out a regulation 6.2-mile course and contacted the Atlanta Track Club, which runs the event, to officially sanction the Hillah, Iraq, franchise. The club sent Halicks a box of T-shirts, race numbers and a starting-line banner.

Halicks' race was one of three Peachtree events this year in Iraq, which along with races in Kuwait and Afghanistan attracted 3,000 service members.

"It's creating a little bit of normalcy at a crazy time," Ann Morris, a spokeswoman for the race, told the Times. "It's their way of saying 'Yeah, I'm a little homesick, but I've got a little home here.'"

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.