ATLANTA — After running every AJC Peachtree Road Race since 1970, 92-year-old Bill Thorn’s streak is coming to an end.
Thorn will serve as Grand Master for this year’s 4th of July race. In recent years he started having issues with his balance. He uses a walker to get around. His family convinced him that it was time to end his historic run.
“To be honest, I’m kind of relieved,” said Thorn. “I’m definitely at peace with it.”
Thorn was a high school athletic coach when he took part in the very first Peachtree.
“154 entered it,” said Thorn. “Only 110 finished. There were some awful looking outfits. I ran in my old ripple sole coaching shoes.”
As the race grew and changed, Thorn kept coming back.
I would just show up every year,” said Thorn. “No one said anything (about his streak) until the 25th year.”
In 1994, the Atlanta Track Club put Thorn in the Peachtree Road Race Hall of Fame. He was honored again in 2019 after completing his 50th Peachtree.
He completed one race while suffering from a sprained ankle. He ran while undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. Since 2020, he’s run virtually around his neighborhood south of Atlanta in Tyrone.
Thorn said preparing for the race had become too difficult to keep the streak going.
“That was a hard decision,” said Thorn. “My two daughters have a lot of influence.”
Despite health challenges, Thorn continues to work out six days a week.
He ends his Peachtree streak knowing that his place in Atlanta history is secure.