Fast Roster of First-Timers Set for AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4

Superstar Hellen Obiri Among Athletes Making Their Atlanta Debut

ATLANTA - June 26, 2025 - Three men who are currently ranked among the Top 10 road racers in the world and one of the best female marathoners on the planet will highlight the professional fields for the 56th Running of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race, organizers announced today.

Headlining the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division on the 50th anniversary of the world-renowned facility's founding will be both course record-holders, as well as the most-decorated U.S. track and field Paralympian in history. And returning after its successful debut last year will be the Elite High School Division, featuring 36 of the best distance runners in Georgia.

Organized by Atlanta Track Club, the largest 10K in the world will feature 51,000 runners turning Peachtree Street into a river of red, white and blue beginning at 6:50 a.m. on July 4.

Hellen Obiri, one of the most-respected runners in the sport, will be making her Peachtree debut when she takes off from the Lenox Square start line toward the finish at Piedmont Park. Obiri, a two-time Boston Marathon champion, 2023 TCS New York City Marathon winner and the 2024 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist, has a 10K personal best of 30:15.

Obiri has impressive credentials at shorter distances, as well: the 35-year-old Kenyan, now living in Boulder, Colorado, is a two-time World Champion and two-time Olympic silver medalist at 5,000 meters, and is the 2019 World Cross Country Champion.

Chepngeno and Obiri both have personal bests faster than the course record of 30:22, set in 2019.

Returning to defend their titles in the Shepherd Center Wheelchair Division are course record-holders Daniel Romanchuk and Susannah Scaroni, both of the U.S.

"Peachtree is always a highlight on my race calendar, and it's even more special this year with Cardiac Hill being renamed Hope Hill in honor of the anniversary," said Romanchuk, who will return in search of his eighth-consecutive win. "Hearing the patients cheering while I'm climbing that steep incline always gives me extra incentive to push hard."

Scaroni has a streak of her own - the 34-year-old is seeking her fourth-consecutive Peachtree victory, and fifth overall. She is coming off her second Boston Marathon win.

Among the other top wheelchair athletes set to compete are Tatyana McFadden (USA), an eight-time Peachtree champion and the most-decorated U.S. Paralympic track and field athlete in history with 22 medals; Kendall Gretsch (USA), a four-time Paralympic gold medalist in Nordic skiing and triathlon; Josh Cassidy (CAN), a two-time Peachtree champion (2010, 2013); Geert Schipper (NED), a two-time Paralympic medalist in triathlon; and Aaron Pike (USA), a six-time Paralympian, winter and summer.

In the Elite High School Division, Riley Comstock and Mary Nesmith lead the field as the top returning athletes from the 2024 race. Comstock (Harrison High School), a rising junior, was GHSA 6A runner-up at 800 meters this spring, while Nesmith, who will be a senior at Marietta High School, is the 2024 6A state cross country champion and state record-holder at 1,600 meters. A complete roster of Elite High School Division competitors and their achievements can be found here.

The event will be livestreamed on AJC.com and on the AJC News App beginning at 6 a.m., with Carrie Tollefson, Ed Eyestone and Amanda McGrory leading the broadcast team.

The full fields of athletes - professional open, wheelchair and high school division:

FOOTRACE, PROFESSIONAL MEN

FOOTRACE, PROFESSIONAL WOMEN

WHEELCHAIR, OPEN MEN

WHEELCHAIR, OPEN WOMEN

ELITE HIGH SCHOOL, BOYS

ELITE HIGH SCHOOL, GIRLS