State Number 21
– Chattanooga Marathon, Chattanooga, TN
6 March 2016
The weekend’s second marathon directed us up the northbound
I-75 corridor to the Volunteer State where we volunteered to participate in
this inaugural marathon.
The drive from
Albany to Chattanooga took us around five hours, largely due to construction around
the Atlanta area together with the daily congested peak hour traffic volumes through
downtown. The HOV lane did afford us
with increased average speeds; however, at times it moved slower than the non-HOV
lanes.
The expo/packet pick-up was held at the First Tennessee
Pavilion near Finley Stadium on Reggie White Boulevard. We arrived in time to pick up our bibs,
shirts and other items before it closed at 1900 hours. We still had on our running attire from
Albany and we definitely didn’t look or feel at our best, but there weren’t
many feasible options available.
At check-in, each participant was afforded a box of fried
chicken strips from Zaxby’s. Since
closing time was near, the event staff told us to take what we wanted so they will
have less to deal with at the expo’s conclusion. We were hungry and couldn’t resist, so we
each grabbed two boxes.
We heated the chicken strips with the in-room
microwave oven. The hunger I was
experiencing made the chicken very tasty and delicious, especially with the
spicy dipping sauce. We satiated ourselves
and felt much better after a shower and looked forward to some rest and
relaxation before Sunday’s marathon.
Another great pre-marathon meal.
The alarm clock sounded at 0630 indicating it was time to
accept the day’s tough challenges. We
ate some granola and a banana for some pre-race energy and drove down I-24 via
I-75 to the finish line parking area.
The lots were full, but we managed to create a parking space in the fire
lane area. Others were doing it, so why
not us?
Prior to boarding the shuttle bus to the race start, my
wife made a quick trip in to the pavilion to exchange her tech shirt for a smaller
size, while I waited to catch one of the available buses lined up against the
curb. Once the bus departed, it was only
a five minute ride to downtown.
The early morning breezes swirling around the downtown
buildings made the “feel like” temperature fairly chilly. We kept warm in the Courtyard Hotel lobby where
we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use the indoor restroom facilities. This also gave me some time to read the
newspaper and watch the morning news on the lobby TV. I turned on my Garmin Forerunner 310xt watch;
however, the damn thing was stuck on the boot-up screen for some reason and was
not able to locate any satellites. Being
in a building may not have helped with satellite reception, but stuck on the
boot-up screen? I wonder how many other
310xt owners experience the same problem.
A few minutes prior to the start, we made our way down
through a parking structure corridor to the bag drop area and joined the exuberant
crowd of marathon and half marathon runners.
My Garmin still wasn’t working and still stuck on the boot-up
screen. I performed a hard reset, but to
no avail. Nothing worked and was enough
to piss-off the good-humor man, but I just had to live with it.
It was perfect running weather – cool with some scattered
clouds – but as the day progressed, the temperature would undoubtedly warm up. I knew the course was rather hilly and,
besides, I just ran a marathon the day before, so my goal time is to finish in
under five hours. After the playing of
our national anthem and a few valedictory words from the race announcer, we were
off and making history with the running of this inaugural event.
My watch was still hung up on the boot screen after the
start, but I kept it on with the hopes of it eventually booting up. My mile and overall times were going to be
jacked, but what can I do?
All participants began running down Broad Street with the
half marathoners breaking off just after 1.5 miles. The number of runners suddenly thinned after
the split leaving more room to maneuver.
I was feeling pretty good with a slight soreness in my calf muscle from
the previous days’ marathon. I kept
glancing at my watch, but still the same after the half break off.
Shortly after the break, voila, my watch was
working! I immediately started the timer
and waited for the next mile marker to figure how much of a discrepancy there
was. The 5 km timing mat was my
reference point and quickly calculated that I started my watch at Marathon Mile
1.8. So I just had to adjust every mile by
1.3 to figure my overall distance.
Just before Marathon Mile 6, runners passed by Clumpy’s
Ice Cream Co. and the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, a funicular train that
climbs to the top of Lookout Mountain.
As I ran by the Marathon Mile 6 banner, my distance was
off by approximately 0.25 mile. That got
me wondering if something was wrong, but didn’t think any more of it and
continued to plug along.
Around Marathon Mile 7, I had to make a pit stop to fix a
sock problem that was plaguing my left heel.
A hot spot was beginning to progress into a blister, so it had to be
dealt with ASAP. I did not have a
Band-Aid available, but once I stretched and adjusted the sock, it didn’t
bother me again.
It wasn’t until about Marathon Mile 8 I overheard a group
of runners ahead of me questioning the validity of the distances between mile markers
and their watches. They made comments to
a course official about a discrepancy of about a quarter mile. I also chimed in about the same
inconsistency.
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| Yummmm |
I decided to walk up the hill at Marathon Mile 10 while
munching on some food energy I picked up at the aid station. At the top of the incline, Veterans Bridge
spanning the Tennessee River came into view.
After a few tenths of a mile through a small development area on Battery
Place, I approached the bridge.
The half mile over the bridge provided a great view of
downtown, the river and the North Shore of Chattanooga. The hard part of the course began.
The hilly terrain of North Chattanooga definitely tested
my ability to overcome the gravitational challenges hills present.
The steepest hill came at Marathon Mile 13 as we turned
up Falmouth Road. I immediately began to
walk as I was really getting tired. Runners
around me quickly exclaimed, “Oh, my God!
Are you kidding me?” The half
marathon split was about 0.1 mile up the hill, so I couldn’t look strong
crossing the timing mat. I crossed in a
time of 2:12 ± (according to the clock).
Soon after, I was glad to reach the hill’s apex where I resumed
running taking full advantage of the force of gravity. This area of Chattanooga was very scenic with
stately homes overlooking the Tennessee River and the beautifully manicured Chattanooga
Golf and Country Club. I was much more
interested in hopping into a golf cart and playing a round of eighteen than
running twelve more miles.
After finishing the North Shore route, it was time to
cross back into downtown via the Walnut Street Bridge. This fascinating one-half mile long bridge built
in the late 1800s is testament to a modified camelback truss design and has functioned
as a pedestrian only bridge since 1978.
Spectators, as well as those just out for a morning
stroll, cheered runners as they ran over the old wood deck boards. The protruding nails and the loose (and some
rotting) deck boards were a constant tripping hazard, so I watched every step.
All passers-by were greeted with the super loud cheers of
students from various fraternities and sororities giving and receiving
high-fives and from UTC’s mascot, Scrappy Moc, upon entering the campus quad area. The sound and support from the students
lifted my spirits and gave me some much needed energy to pull me through the
last nine miles.
After leaving UTC, the blister on my heel was beginning
to become tender. I stopped at medical
aid for a Band-Aid, but they did not have one.
Apparently, only tape and gauze were in stock. I knew that wouldn’t work, so I thanked the
helpful, and apologetic, EMTs, re-adjusted my sock and continued on with my
task at hand.
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| Original pilaster to Ferger Place |
An informational sign at the district’s entrance said
Ferger Place was founded in the early 1900s and serves as the first gated
community south of the Mason-Dixon Line and features rare architectural
styles. This beautifully preserved
neighborhood was once home to the wealthy and government officials. Although not gated today, the original
pilasters still exist.
The streets in the U-shaped subdivision are named
Morningside Drive, Eveningside Drive and Ferger Place. Of course, Morningside is on the east and
Eveningside on the west. Several of the
residents were kind enough to offer runners cups of cold beer. I took up their offers for some much needed
carbs and as a pick-me-up for the last 5 km.
While appreciating the neighborhood, the land surveyor within
me pondered how Tennessee law treats ancient subdivision maps and plats. California uses the Subdivision Map Act
contained in the Government Code. Does
Tennessee use something similar to California law? Is a certificate of compliance all that’s
needed? That’s a topic outside the scope
of this tome and can be discoursed at a later time. For those who REALLY need to know, see when
a map is not a map.
Making a left back onto E. Main Street, I was happy to
finally be less than three miles from the finish. My energy level was drained, my calf was sore
and one thought was on my mind – to finish in under five hours. I could only guess at my time, but I had a
sense of where I stood. The last two
miles seemed like an eternity, but I kept pushing. When I was able to hear the cheering crowds massed
around the finish line area, an adrenaline rush kicked in as I rounded the penultimate
turn onto Broad Street.
I made the final turn onto Reggie White Blvd. and right
there in my view was the Marathon Mile 26 banner. The finish line was in sight and I can truly
say, “I was almost there.” I saw the
race clock in the distance ticking away – it was under five hours – yay! I picked up the pace and finished strong with
a time of 4:53:55, an 11:14 pace.
Age graded score: 47.65%
Age graded time: 4:26:12
Upon receiving my finisher’s medal, I walked over to some
shade to cool off and texted my wife I was done and where to meet up with
her. After talking with a couple of
young girls about their earlier one-mile run and how happy they were to receive
a medal, I walked into the pavilion and found my wife. She had just finished her complimentary food
truck meal and was sitting in the sun trying to warm up.
We spent about an hour just lounging before leaving for
the hotel to clean up and see the sights around Chattanooga.
Although we had some post-race food, we were still a
little hungry. Now that the race was
over and traffic was back to normal on the city’s surface streets, we ate a
late lunch at The Terminal Brewhouse across from the Chattanooga Choo Choo
Hotel and museum.
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| Chattanooga Choo choo on Track 29 |
As we were preparing to leave, a runner from the
Chattanooga area, with his bib still plastered to his shirt, came up to us and
asked if we ran the marathon. This was
his first marathon and finished in just over four hours. He was quite happy with his time (as he
should be on that course) and was out celebrating with friends. When he walked, it was evident he had the
“marathon shuffle” and he struggled making his way down the staircase to the
ground floor. We weren’t too bad, but we
can relate to the shuffle.
Lookout Mountain was our next destination, an upscale
community of around 2000 residents, to visit Rock City Gardens (actually in the
State of Georgia) and Point Park in the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National
Military Park.
Rock City is known for its ancient rock formations,
famous gardens and the stunning panoramic views of seven states. Unfortunately, Rock City closed its doors at
1700 hours and we arrived a few minutes before.
So a visit to the Seven States overlook and the ancient rock formations
will have to wait for another date and time, if ever. So, it was back through the maze of streets
through the community to Point Park. The
sun was beginning to set and we didn’t have much time to spend visiting the
park, so only a few photographs of the area had to suffice.
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| Can you see seven states? |
The road down into Chattanooga led us to Ruby Falls and
right to the funicular at the bottom of the hill. There we stopped at Clumpy’s for a homemade
ice cream treat to top off our day. Just
a few hours before, we ran past the place.
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| Point Park entrance |
For an inaugural marathon, I got the impression the
organizing committee “gave it their all” for this event and to make it
memorable for everyone. The marathon’s web site is user friendly and informative.
The course was hilly (one of the hilliest I’ve completed),
challenging and tough and likely not a BQ course for everyone. Participants were encouraged to park near the
finish line area and catch a ride on the shuttle bus to the start, which was only
a few minutes away. Transportation was
well organized and we did not experience any hang ups.
Although we arrived at the expo toward the latter part of
the day, it seemed to have limited vendors.
Maybe because it was at the end of the day. The extra boxes of Zaxby’s chicken was a
pleasant surprise – especially because I was so hungry.
Hats off to the local law enforcement for providing
excellent traffic control. Without their
support, our safety would be compromised.
The friendly volunteers, spectators and ample water stations made this a
great event. The enthusiasm of the race
organizers were commendable and this marathon should be a great annual event
for Chattanooga in future years. In a
combined event, a majority of participants choose the half marathon so marathon
runners may be running alone, but the course was well marked.
The course provided runners a tour of the various regions
of Chattanooga, especially the North Shore and the Ferger Place District;
however, the course could be redirected around some of the more run-down or
industrial areas. I know, easier said
than done given the recertification process.
The three highlights, at least for me, were running across the two
bridges (what else from an engineer), the uplifting spirit and inspiration from
the UTC students, and finishing.
The tech shirt and finisher’s medal were somewhat plain
and lacked any style. Perhaps in the
years to come, they will become more attractive with more fashionable bling and
designs.
Not long after we settled in back home and taking
pleasure in checking off another state, a notice was sent out from race officials
that read:
“On behalf of the Chattanooga Marathon Planning
Committee, I would like to sincerely apologize to the runners of Sunday’s
Inaugural Chattanooga Marathon full marathon. As you may know, the full
marathon was short by 0.28 miles because the St. Elmo turn-around was placed 0.14
miles before the certified course turn-around. Please know that the
certification was not the cause but rather the placement of the cones that
resulted in the discrepancy.
On Sunday, a few local athletes informed me after their
run that they thought the turn-around was early. After hearing this, we
requested Garmin files and found, after reviewing the files on Monday, that
there did appear to be an issue. On
Tuesday, we went down to St. Elmo and got the exact distance of the shortage
and began responding to inquiries via phone and email.”
That message only
confirmed my uncertainties of the course’s distance after the turn-around point. It is unfortunate that this marathon may not
be accepted as an official marathon towards any kind of certification; however,
Boston is willing to accept it using a projected finish time. In my professional opinion, if runners endeavoring
to run all fifty states completed this marathon acting in good faith with the confidence
and trust this USATF certified course was laid out correctly, it should be
counted – with or without a projected finish time or the distance covered.
I am not assigning fault
to anyone, but mistakes can and do happen; everyone makes them occasionally,
it’s inevitable when there are different levels of human involvement. We can be open to them, learn from them and
use them to better ourselves the next time.
With that said, the race organizers did offer a reduced entry fee for
the 2017 running to all 2016 marathon participants provided they completed the course
with an official finish time.
They weren’t compelled
to offer a discount, but I consider that to be honest customer service and a
way to better themselves for next time. This
marathon was an inaugural event and bugs will undoubtedly transpire.
“Chattanooga Choo Choo,
won’t you choo-choo me home?”
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| All aboard! |
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