5 finalists vie for coveted AJC Peachtree Road Race T-shirt design

By Mike Benzie, Yahoo! Atlanta Editor

If you're one of the 60,000 expected runners at the 42nd annual AJC Peachtree Road Race on July 4, you probably already have your race-day packet. What you don't have is the T-shirt.

In fact, it's one of the most talked about traditions for a race that has plenty. Organizers not only give out the T-shirts after the race, they don't even let runners see the design beforehand. Some will note however, that every year there's the Peachtree equivalent of a "spoiler", the runner who finishes early and decides to do a warm-down run in the direction of the rest of the finishers, holding up the new T-shirt for all to reluctantly see. (Don't be that guy--or girl).

The Atlanta Track Club and the AJC selected five designs, but voting is over, and by now the lucky design is destined for cotton. Below are the five finalists. Let us know which you like best as well by commenting below.

Race bib. Design by Barbie Klimaszewski. Klimaszewski said in the AJC Peachtree Road Race Magazine that she's been running the race for nearly a decade and wanted to design a shirt that hit close to home for the dedicated Peachtree crowd. She said she used last year's number and a little Photoshop for the design.

Flowing flag. Design by Alissa Chitwood. Chitwood is a senior at the University of West Georgia majoring in art education. She told the race magazine she didn't want "very straight, literal flag stripes, but to be flowing and in motion."

Painted Peachtree. Design by Jessica Ferguson. Ferguson said she has a background in painting. She designed the letters with a palette knife and then scanned them into Photoshop.

Retro. Design by Adam Houston. Houston is a graphic designer and was a finalist in the T-shirt design contest in 2002, 2006 and 2008. He said he tried to create a retro look and encompass all the many things going on in the race in one clean look.

Back in time. Design by Matt Ankerich. Ankerich attended the Art Institute of Atlanta and has been a professional graphic designer since the 1990s. Ankerich said his design was inspired by Peachtree designs of the '70s and '80s.

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More. Take a stroll down memory lane with a look at T-shirts by decade at these AJC galleries. 2000s | 1990s | 1980s | 1970s