RACE DAY ARRIVES! Cedartown Wheelchair 5K coming up this evening

The flags have been up for weeks, the finish line is sprayed onto North College Street in front of Peek Park, and racers have been working out at Darlington after arriving in town over the weekend.

All this leading up to the starting gun for one of the fastest 5K races for wheelchair athletes in the world.

The 21st running of the Cedartown Wheelchair 5K Road Race this year precedes the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta where athletes typically go next for a 10K on Thursday, and following that they have the option of taking on a real challenge: the 15K Boilermaker in Utica, New York.

Athletes this year are hailing from all points of the compass, including European nations like Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands to African countries including Ghana and Nigeria all the way to Central America where competitors hail from Mexico and Costa Rica.

Dozens of wheelchair athletes come to Polk County from around the globe annually to take on the race. This year some of the regular participants are instead preparing for the Paralympic games in Paris that coincides with the Olympic Games being held in the French capital city.

Final preparations for this evening’s race are being handled throughout the day on North College Street, so do take note of that when driving through the area. Expect roads to start closing ahead of race time at 5 p.m. and last until 8 p.m. which will be taking up the routes of years past along North College Drive and the streets around the lake and a portion of West John Hand Drive.

Race Day this year also comes with something else new: food trucks including Rudy’s, Chick-fil-A and Snack Shack are setting up at Peek Park for the big event.

Events kick off at 6 p.m., and racers will be officially taking off from North College Street at 6:45 p.m.

The race is free for all to enjoy, and organizers encourage all to come out early and find a seat on the bleachers or around the sidewalk along North College Street to watch the athletes speed their way around Cedartown.

No rain is expected in the forecast, and the high is only expected to hit 89 for race day weather. Winds could get gusty tomorrow (10 to 15 mph sustained, 20 mph gusts,) which might not help racers in some spots on the course.

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