For the fourteenth consecutive year, the Front Runners Atlanta, a gay running
group, helps to start Pride weekend with a bang.
Some 800 people are expected to participate in Front Runners’ annual
Pride Run. The starting gun goes off at 8 a.m. on June 26.
“It’s a healthy environment to start the weekend,” said
Mike Spencer, president of Front Runners. “You have people there who
won’t participate in any of the other parts of Pride.”
The night before the actual five-kilometer run, which traverses the historic
Grant Park district, Front Runners hosts a pasta dinner at Einstein’s
restaurant in Midtown with Alex Wan as the guest of honor.
Wan is a candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives for the district
that includes Ansley, Morningside and the Virginia-Highlands areas.
Proceeds from the Pride Run go to YouthPride, the gay youth agency in Decatur,
and Charis Circle, the non-profit branch of Charis Books & More, a lesbian-feminist
bookstore in Little 5 Points.
Later that day across town in Piedmont Park, the recently formed gay Atlanta
rugby team plans an exhibition game in the large grassy sports bowl close to
the 14th Street park entrance.
The Atlanta Bucks face the Lonestars from Austin, Texas, at 2 p.m.
“We wanted to give everyone a chance to see what a rugby game was all
about,” said Eddie Towson, president of the Bucks.
For the first time, the Atlanta Gay Sports Alliance, a coalition of local
gay sports teams, plans a strong presence at Pride.
“The Alliance has been successful in getting all the sports teams and
leagues placed together in the Pride Market, making it easier for anyone interested
in playing a sport to come out and meet the athletes,” said Towson, who
also serves as president of the Alliance.
The Alliance teams include
the Bucks, Atlanta Heat (women’s rugby),
Atlanta Team Tennis Association, Hotlanta Volleyball, Hotlanta Soccer, Atlanta
Thunder (flag football), Front Runners Atlanta and the Atlanta Rainbow Trout.
Outside Piedmont Park, the Atlanta Feminist Women’s Chorus holds its
first annual golf tournament on Saturday morning at Brown’s Mill Golf
Course.
