Clayton Staters Celebrate 2010 Peachtree Road Race

On Tuesday, July 6, a dozen members of the Clayton State family gathered on the University Quad to celebrate their participation in the 41st running of the Peachtree Road Race with a group photo in their race t-shirts. 
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Photo: Clayton State 2010 Peachtree Road Race runners: Front row (left to right); Dr. Mark Daddona, Dr. Tim Hynes, Dr. Angelyn Hayes. Middle row (left to right); Dr. Patricia Todebush, Dr. Christine Smith, Vickie Fennell Smith. Back row (left to right); Cedric Hendrix, Todd Birchfield, Patrick Jones, Robert Holmes, Dr. Greg Kordecki, Joseph Echols. (Erin Fender photo)

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In all, at least twice that many Clayton State faculty, staff, students, alumni and retirees participated in the 2010 version of the 10K race, including President Dr. Thomas J. “Tim” Hynes, Jr., who ran for the 13th time. Also running was Hynes’ son, Patrick Hynes of Brooklyn, N.Y., who finished 86th overall with an official time of 33:13. While President Hynes may not have beaten son Hynes to the finish line, he did note that he passed a lot of younger runners, undoubtedly a truism, since Hynes finished 1956th out of almost 51,000 finishers.

Another father/son combination in the race was retired Director of Auxiliary Services Robert Holmes and son Zack Holmes… who also finished ahead of dad.

“He ran with me for about a mile, then took off,” says father Holmes.

Also notable among Clayton State faculty and staff was the accomplishment of Assistant Track and Cross Country Coach Hugh Toro, who ran for the 39th consecutive time. Associate Professor of Accounting Dr. Greg Kordecki has also been a Peachtree regular – this was his 23rd consecutive race. As an added bonus, Kordecki’s 13-year old daughter and cross country/track enthusiast, Hilary Ma ZiHong Kordecki, spotted him in the cover page photo of Section C of the Monday, July 5 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“If you look carefully, you will find me near the left side of the photo in the fourth row of runners at the race start line. As a volunteer in the runner control line that separates world-class from sub-seeded athletes, I gave it all I had in a 200-yard dash at the start to make it to the side line safely,” he says.

After volunteering, he jumped in the race as bib number 35369. However, Hilary Kordecki, bib number 35370, did finish 47 minutes ahead of her dad. Of course, she is little younger. Also running from the School of Business was Joseph Echols (Conyers), an MBA student and staff member in the Clayton State Office of Recruitment and Admissions.

Several other Clayton Staters have participated in the race multiple times – Interim Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Dr. Mark Daddona (seven consecutive, he was seeded with the “B” group, just behind President Hynes in “A”), Director of the Office of Career Services Dr. Angelyn Hayes (13 consecutive… she noted that she finished ahead of 5,000 people), Director of Grant and Contract Programs Vickie Fennell Smith (nine), Fayetteville resident and student Angela Goddard (five), student Patrick V. Jones (six), and Master of Arts in Liberal Studies student (and Union City resident) Rob Rogers (seven).

“It's part of the tapestry that is Atlanta. I tell all my friends that everyone living here should do it at least one time,” says Rogers.

Also in the race were Director of Counseling and Psychological Services Dr. Christine Smith, Associate Professor of Chemistry Dr. Patricia Todebush, and Telecommunications and Networking’s Todd Birchfield, who said he ran with 54,999 of his closest friends. He’s run Peachtree before, but not since 1981.

Clayton State alumni also took part. Forty-one year old Cedric Hendrix (East Point), a spring 2010 graduate, started in the “C” group.

Perhaps Jones had the best comment on the race.

“See you next year,” he said. A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.