Bill Costantino - Hoofing the Peachtree

Senior runner Bill Costantino was born in 1943 in the Catskill mountain area of upstate New York.  Bill’s parents, in 1949, self-deported to one of Georgia’s gnat centers, Albany.  After spending his childhood years in Albany, Bill’s parents relocated again and he graduated from Jordan High in Columbus, GA.  Bill played football and nearly soured on running after a bad day at practice (the coach’s opinion), while doing goal to goal wind sprints named “suicides” .

Bill’s introduction to the Army was at Fort Gordon near Augusta, where he acquired the art of “running in formation” while a drill sergeant reminded him that “you had a good home but you left, your right, sound off …” in cadence.  This led to Bill’s growing attachment to long distance running.  He graduated from running in combat boots into the 1960s trendy high top Converse athletic shoes.     

Bill settled in Atlanta in 1964 as he described to “attend the Atlanta School of Art and Party”.  After outfitting in Bass weejuns from newly erected Lennox Square, Bill hit the Atlanta dating scene comprised of hundreds of young ladies who left small Georgia towns to attend an Atlanta business college to learn typing and partying.  Fine dining consisted of eating at the Varsity or a Zesto’s Drive In in your car.  His lifestyle changed when he married his wife of forty-eight years, Kay, in 1968 and embarked on a thirty-nine-year career in decorative Formica and hardwood lumber.

In 1980 a friend convinced Bill to enter and train for the Peachtree Road Race.  Residing just beyond the east gate to Stone Mountain Park offered a five mile loop run around the mountain.  This led to participation in area 10Ks such as Heart Trek, Charles Harris, Tar Baby in Eatonton, and the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston.  Eventually Bill entered half marathons in Atlanta and Savannah.  His PR for a half was 1:42 in Savannah.  Bill remembers that there were no walkers in that era and if you ran a nine-minute mile the finish line was down and the awards ceremony was over when you finished.

Bill and Kay moved to Grayson, GA in 1995, and he begin a love affair with Tribble Mill Park runs and for a while served on the Board of Directors of the Greater Gwinnett Road Runners.  Bill retired in 2003 and he and Kay moved to a golf community in the Braselton area.  Bill discovered Classic Race Services and Will Chamberlin as a source of area 5K races and he has continued to be a fixture at northeast Atlanta area races to date.  His home runs are now at Little Mulberry Park in the Hamilton Mill area.  Among his favorite races are the Naples, Florida and Athens Chick-Fil-A Half Marathons.  Bill and Kay have two sons and three grandchildren, none of whom ever plan to run!  

His most favorite race is the Peachtree.  Bill has been a staunch Peachtree Road Race supporter having run the race for thirty-five consecutive years and been a crew chief for twenty-five years.  Bill has watched the number of participants climb from 15,000 to 60,000 over the years.  Bill served the Atlanta Track Club notice that 2015 was his last year as a crew chief, but he still intends to participate as a runner and volunteer.  Unlike fellow crew chief Bob Slowpants, Bill grew tired of 0430 hr. 4^th of July arrivals at the start to complete his crew chief duties then run finishing with the last few waves of the race.         

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Look for the profile of Decatur runner Amy Hall, and profile of Jimmy Worley.er two daughter accompanied her tyop races He