Shortly before 7:00 am on July 4, 2016, tens of thousands of runners, walkers and wheel-chair racers lined up to conquer 6.2 miles of pavement through Atlanta, Georgia, for the 46th running of the Peachtree Road Race.

Since the first race on July 4, 1970, participants and locals are filled with excitement and anticipation for not only the event itself, which is the largest 10K in the world, but the reveal of the race t-shirt design – the coveted prize for crossing the finish line.

The build up surrounding the t-shirt design began early in the year as thousands of entries were submitted to have their design printed on 60,000 t-shirts given out after completing the racecourse. Contestants from near and far sent in their best design for this year’s race t-shirt. In early February 2016, a panel of judges representing the Atlanta Track Club narrowed it down to five finalists. Our very own, Junior Art Director, Shay Harbaugh, submitted her design and made the cut into the final five finalists! Voting opened to the public through March 22, 2016, via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where voters choose their favorite design and voted daily.

The winning t-shirt design remained top secret until the race on July 4th. After the race had began event organizers revealed to Shay that her design had won! The secret was kept quiet from the runners and public until the first runner crossed the finished line. Shay was overflowing with honor, excitement, and astonishment – lots of “happy tears” were flowing as well.

Shay at the finish line at Piedmont Park of the 2016 Peachtree Road Race with her winning t-shirt design.

“Three words inspired me for this design; PRIDE, HEART and SOUL,” said Shay, elaborating on her vision for the design. “The color palette used symbolizes pride, not only for our great country, but for the pride we share for our state. To illustrate heart and soul, I did a play on words. The peach representing ‘heart’ and naturally the sole of the shoe representing ‘soul.’ With every step the runners take in the race they are putting their heart and soul into getting closer to the finish line.”

VDG was humbly not surprised she won the contest, as we experience Shay’s high level of talent and passion in the office every single day. We have no doubt that she put her own heart and soul into her design, as she does everything she creates. We are privileged to have her on our team and are very proud of her accomplishment.