JULIAN OLIVER WAS GOING TO RUN AWAY FROM ATLANTA, BUT RACE CAMP KEPT HIM HERE
ARTICLE WRITTEN BY MAURICE GARLAND. PHOTOS BY CHAD PRICE.
WHEN JULIAN OLIVER CROSSED THE FINISH LINE OF THE 56TH RUNNING OF THE PEACHTREE ROAD RACE IN JULY 2025, HE WAS DOING MORE THAN JUST COMPLETING A 10K. HE WAS CELEBRATING THE END OF HIS TIME WITH ATLANTA RUN CLUB’S RACE CAMP SEASON 3, AN EIGHT-WEEK PROGRAM THAT MADE HIM A STRONGER, SMARTER RUNNER.
“RUNNING WAS NEVER SUPER HARD FOR ME,” SAYS OLIVER, WHO RAN CROSS COUNTRY HIS SENIOR YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL, BUT ONLY RAN RECREATIONALLY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOWED. “I WASN'T THINKING ABOUT TIMES, PACES, SPLITS, OR ANY OF THAT. I WAS RUNNING JUST TO DO IT. BUT WHEN I JOINED RACE CAMP, THE COACHES TUNDE, CINI AND NICOLE STARTED GIVING ME INFORMATION ON HOW TO ACTUALLY IMPROVE AT RUNNING AND KNOWING WHAT YOU'RE DOING.”
WHILE HE WAS ABLE TO REALIZE HIS ATHLETIC ASPIRATIONS AND FINISH HIS FIRST PEACHTREE ROAD RACE IN LESS THAN AN HOUR, HIS RACE CAMP EXPERIENCE ALSO GAVE HIM A SENSE OF COMMUNITY THAT HE REALLY NEEDED AT THAT POINT IN HIS LIFE. IN JULY 2024, ALMOST EXACTLY ONE YEAR PRIOR TO RUNNING THROUGH THE HEAT FOR A PEACHTREE FINISHER'S T-SHIRT, OLIVER WAS ESCAPING A FIRE WITH JUST THE SHIRT ON HIS BACK.
THE BELL COLLIER APARTMENTS COMPLEX WHERE OLIVER WAS LIVING CAUGHT FIRE, CAUSING $500,000 IN DAMAGE AND FORCING OCCUPANTS TO SCRAMBLE FOR A PLACE TO LIVE. AS A NATIVE OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, WHO HAD JUST MOVED TO ATLANTA FROM AUBURN, ALABAMA, OLIVER HAD A VERY SMALL CIRCLE OF PEOPLE TO TURN TO AS HE TRIED TO PUT HIS LIFE BACK TOGETHER. HE BOUNCED BETWEEN LIVING WITH A FRIEND AND A COUSIN AND GOT SUPPORT FROM HIS SKATING CREW AND PEOPLE AT HIS CHURCH, BUT THE ROAD BACK TO NORMALCY WAS STILL TOUGH. IRONICALLY, ACTUALLY HITTING THE ROAD WAS WHAT KEPT HIM GOING.
“RUNNING BECAME A SENSE OF CONSISTENCY AND STABILITY IN THE MIDST OF THAT CONFUSION,” SAYS OLIVER, WHO, IN ADDITION TO WORKING IN GEORGIA TECH’S STUDENT AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT, WAS ALSO STUDYING FOR HIS MBA WHEN THE FIRE HAPPENED.
OLIVER TOOK A SEMESTER OFF FROM SCHOOL, AND AROUND THAT TIME HE SAW AN INSTAGRAM POST ADVERTISING ARC’S RACE CAMP. HE HAD COME TO ARC’S MONDAY RUNS OFF AND ON, BUT JOINING RACE CAMP OFFERED THE STABILITY HIS LIFE WAS MISSING AND THE DISCIPLINE HIS SKATING HOBBY WASN’T PROVIDING. IT ALSO GAVE HIM A REASON TO STAY IN THE CITY.
“I KEPT THINKING ABOUT MOVING OUT OF ATLANTA AND GETTING A JOB SOMEWHERE ELSE AFTER THAT FIRE,” ADMITS OLIVER, WHO REVEALS THAT HE DIDN’T MAKE FAST FRIENDS HIS FIRST FEW WEEKS IN RACE CAMP. “I DIDN'T REALLY KNOW ANYBODY, BUT I STARTED TO UNDERSTAND THE ACTUAL TIME COMMITMENT AND COMMUNITY THAT'S NEEDED TO KEEP GOING. I STARTED OPENING UP AND LEARNING MORE. RACE CAMP GAVE ME A REASON TO STAY IN ATLANTA.”
HE CONTINUES, “FOR ME IT'S A VERY BLURRED LINE, BECAUSE BOTH OF THOSE EXPERIENCES, THE FIRE AND RACE CAMP, WAS A SEASON OF PERSEVERANCE AND GRIT.”
“I’VE NEVER BEEN THE STRONGEST OR FASTEST AT ANYTHING IN MY LIFE,” SAYS OLIVER. “BUT I DO KNOW THAT WHATEVER I START, I FINISH IT.”
OLIVER WOULD PUT HIS NEWFOUND GRIT TO THE TEST JUST MONTHS LATER AS HE JOINED RACE CAMP SEASON FOUR TO TRAIN FOR ARC’S ANNUAL WINTER TRAVEL RACE, THE 2026 HOUSTON MARATHON. THE DISTANCE WAS 20 MILES LONGER THAN HIS PREVIOUS RACE, BUT HE FIGURED THAT WITH ALL THAT HE’D BEEN THROUGH ALREADY, HE COULD DO IT. A 13-MILE MISTAKE HE MADE ALONG THE WAY ALSO GAVE HIM SOME CONFIDENCE.
IN OCTOBER 2025, JUST DAYS BEFORE HE WAS SET TO BEGIN HIS SECOND RACE CAMP, HE SIGNED UP FOR THE HIGHLY POPULAR THE RACE IN SOUTHWEST ATLANTA. WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A QUICK TUNE-UP TURNED INTO A LONG DAY.
“I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO THE 5K, BUT THE RACE STARTED IN THE DARK, AND I DIDN’T HAVE MY GLASSES ON,” SAYS OLIVER, WHO RAN PAST THE 5K ROUTE MARKER AND ACCIDENTALLY CONTINUED ON THE HALF-MARATHON COURSE. “I’VE NEVER BEEN THE STRONGEST, FASTEST, OR BEST AT ANYTHING IN MY LIFE. BUT I DO KNOW THAT WHATEVER I START, I FINISH IT. SO ONCE I KNEW I MADE THE WRONG TURN, I SAID, WELL, I'M GONNA GET THROUGH IT. SO YEAH, I ACTUALLY RAN MY FIRST HALF MARATHON BY ACCIDENT.”
WHEN OLIVER FINALLY DID ARRIVE AT HIS START LINE IN HOUSTON IN JANUARY 2026, HE WAS A STRONGER RUNNER THAN HE HAD EVER BEEN. THAT WAS GOOD, BECAUSE THE MARATHON DEMANDED EVERYTHING HE HAD. HE FOUGHT THROUGH LEG CRAMPS, STOMACH ISSUES, AND EVEN TRIPPED AND FELL AT ONE POINT. RIGHT WHEN DOUBT WAS STARTING TO SET IN AT MILE 23, HE GOT A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT FROM A FAMILIAR FACE.
“I SAW [ARC FOUNDER] JAMES [RO] IN THE CORNER OF MY EYE, AND HE WAS LIKE, 'HEY, THE ARC CHEER STATION IS RIGHT UP THIS HILL,’” SAYS OLIVER. “I REALLY NEEDED THAT BOOST TO KEEP GOING. I REMEMBER MAKING IT UP THE HILL AND SEEING EVERYBODY. I WAS DYING ON THE INSIDE, BUT ONCE I SAW THEM, I JUST GOT HYPED AND STARTED SCREAMING. IT WAS A VERY OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE.”
NOW, SIX MONTHS LATER, OLIVER IS RUNNING IT BACK AT THE 2026 PEACHTREE ROAD RACE, WHERE HIS RACE CAMP JOURNEY BEGAN. LAST YEAR HE STARTED IN WAVE M; THIS YEAR HE WILL BE IN WAVE D. WHILE HE LOOKS FORWARD TO IMPROVING HIS TIME AND ADDING A NEW CHAPTER TO HIS RUNNING STORY, HE CAN’T HELP BUT REMINISCE ABOUT 12 MONTHS AGO AND POSSIBLY RECREATE THAT FEELING.
“WHEN I RAN PAST THE ARC TENT LAST YEAR, I GOT EMOTIONAL,” REMEMBERS OLIVER, REVEALING THAT, SIMILAR TO THIS HOUSTON MARATHON EXPERIENCE, THE CHEERING GAVE HIM A BOOST, DESPITE HIS LEGS HURTING. YOU JUST SEE ALL THE FAMILY OVER THERE CHEERING, AND YOU’RE LIKE, WOW, I'VE BEEN WORKING TOWARDS THIS MOMENT, AND THESE ARE THE PEOPLE I PUT THE WORK IN WITH. THAT’S GOING TO STICK WITH ME FOREVER. IT’S A CORE MEMORY FOR ME.”
