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LETTER FROM THE EVENT DIRECTOR

November 6, 2024

I've been putting off finishing this wrap-up email for days. Aside from my real life not slowing down (at all) while I was gone, I also couldn't come up with a way to succinctly wrap up 42 years of an event, 31 of which I've been a part of. The reality is I'll never be able write the perfect wrap-up, or share every thought, feeling, and story, so I'll keep it somewhat brief.

I don't know if I can say that the Athens to Atlanta Road Skate changed my life, because it's all I've ever known. Reading your stories (or eulogies) from the event, and seeing how many lives it has changed or deeply impacted is exactly what makes it so difficult to say goodbye to this event after 42 years.

While I continue to feel waves of sadness about its end, I also continue to feel such immense gratitude that we were able to have this final hurrah a couple of weekends ago. It's very rare to have the gift of knowing you're experiencing the last of something while it's happening. I am grateful we had that gift of knowing the 42nd A2A was the last, and to be able to really soak it in.

We got to send this event off on a high note with perfect, quintessential A2A weather, 10-year high numbers of 87-mile skaters, and the most intentional ties we've ever seen. I must also share my thanks to every volunteer - you afforded me the freedom to skate in this final event, for the first time since 2019.

As we said during Henry's Final Rant, we will maintain a2a.net for as long as we are able with the robust results pages and DuraSkater rankings. We will hold the “A2A” name in case of a resurgence of a different type of event in the southeast.

For now, I hope the memory of A2A lives on through your photos and stories, and I hope to see you on the road.

- Anna Zuver, A2A Event Director 2016-2024

Results & DuraSkater Rankings