ATLANTA — Manuela Schar of Switzerland set an event record in 21 minutes 28 seconds on Thursday to win the women's wheelchair division of the AJC Peachtree Road Race.
She will receive $50,000 for the victory, a special prize being awarded by the Atlanta Track Club to winners who set event records in its 50th running.
It was Schar's second win in the Peachtree, after first winning the race in 2013.
She edged out Americans Tatyana McFadden and Susannah Scaroni by just a handful of seconds for the win.
"I was lucky because the finish is on a downhill and that’s really my strength," she said. "If it was an uphill or maybe even like a flat finish, then it would have been difficult for me so I got really lucky with the downhill."
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She said she wasn't thinking about the record as she came in for the finish. She chalked up the time to her opponents helping set the record pace.
"Yeah I'm never carrying a watch for racing, I just wanna depend on my feelings and like throw it all out there," Schar said. "I knew it was possible, but this really was a team effort and everyone pushed really, really fast for that time. Thanks Tatyana, thanks Susannah. Really, really tough race."
The 50th AJC Peachtree Road Race
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