Sunday, November 12, 2006
Chickamauga Marathon and 10 Mile Run
Chickamauga, GA
I am not up for a marathon just yet, but I was hungry for a longer race this weekend so I decided to check out the Chickamauga 10 Mile Run. It’s a two-hour from Atlanta, so I was up and on the road by 4:00 am for the easy drive up I-75. I was there before they even opened registration. Watching all the marathoner’s show up, I felt a little like I had shown up to run the kid’s fun run. Everyone seemed to be wearing the shirt from his or her last marathon, ultra marathon, or adventure race. I suspect that once I join the club next March, I will not feel so self-conscious around that crowd.
Registration and packet pickup was inside one of the out buildings of the Oakwood Baptist Church, warm and dry. And there was coffee! An overcast sky seemed to promise rain, but held off until long after the 10-mile race was over. At race time, the temperature was 55 degrees, which was a little warm for this time of year.
Three hundred twenty-five marathoner’s got started a half-hour before the ten-milers, just after 7:30. The race was ready to go at 7:30, but the race director politely waiting for the port-a-potty line to clear before starting. The ten-milers, a smaller crowd of about two hundred and fifty, left promptly at 8:00.
The ten-miler was an out and back covering the first five miles of the marathoner’s route. They do not close the course to traffic, but race personal or law enforcement staffed all intersections and for the most part drivers were both polite and considerate. (I cannot speak for the full marathon course, as I was driving home; I saw marathoner’s dealing with a lot more traffic than the 10-milers.) The course itself winds through the woods and vast fields of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. It’s a beautiful place for a race. The many and sometimes spectacular monuments to the men who fought and died on those fields lends a both elegance and a somber note to the course. (Over 34,000 men perished during the battle of Chickamauga.)
It was a hard race for me. I was in good condition, but not in peak condition (where I would always like it to be!) I kept a good pace through the first half of the race. The course was just slightly rolling with no real hills to speak of. Still, it was a major relief and psychological boost to get to the turn around point and I was able to pick up my pace a bit. Of course, I was not the only one reaching the midpoint had that effect on. Other runners picked up the pace as well. One runner in particular dogged me for the next five miles. Either she would pass me and it would take me a mile to catch me, or I would pass her and a mile later would find her returning the favor. We traded words of encouragement while inside I wondered how in the world I was going to keep going and wondered with each stride where the next would come from. I crossed the finish line at 1:17:53. I felt I should have done better, but I did feel good that I had given, or had coaxed out of me, a 100% effort.
It was a nice race, well run, and well organized, with a solid crew of volunteers. The post race spread was wonderful. (Fresh coffee!) It was a small race that did not feel small at all. I suspect I will be back next year.
I am not up for a marathon just yet, but I was hungry for a longer race this weekend so I decided to check out the Chickamauga 10 Mile Run. It’s a two-hour from Atlanta, so I was up and on the road by 4:00 am for the easy drive up I-75. I was there before they even opened registration. Watching all the marathoner’s show up, I felt a little like I had shown up to run the kid’s fun run. Everyone seemed to be wearing the shirt from his or her last marathon, ultra marathon, or adventure race. I suspect that once I join the club next March, I will not feel so self-conscious around that crowd.
Registration and packet pickup was inside one of the out buildings of the Oakwood Baptist Church, warm and dry. And there was coffee! An overcast sky seemed to promise rain, but held off until long after the 10-mile race was over. At race time, the temperature was 55 degrees, which was a little warm for this time of year.
Three hundred twenty-five marathoner’s got started a half-hour before the ten-milers, just after 7:30. The race was ready to go at 7:30, but the race director politely waiting for the port-a-potty line to clear before starting. The ten-milers, a smaller crowd of about two hundred and fifty, left promptly at 8:00.
The ten-miler was an out and back covering the first five miles of the marathoner’s route. They do not close the course to traffic, but race personal or law enforcement staffed all intersections and for the most part drivers were both polite and considerate. (I cannot speak for the full marathon course, as I was driving home; I saw marathoner’s dealing with a lot more traffic than the 10-milers.) The course itself winds through the woods and vast fields of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. It’s a beautiful place for a race. The many and sometimes spectacular monuments to the men who fought and died on those fields lends a both elegance and a somber note to the course. (Over 34,000 men perished during the battle of Chickamauga.)
It was a hard race for me. I was in good condition, but not in peak condition (where I would always like it to be!) I kept a good pace through the first half of the race. The course was just slightly rolling with no real hills to speak of. Still, it was a major relief and psychological boost to get to the turn around point and I was able to pick up my pace a bit. Of course, I was not the only one reaching the midpoint had that effect on. Other runners picked up the pace as well. One runner in particular dogged me for the next five miles. Either she would pass me and it would take me a mile to catch me, or I would pass her and a mile later would find her returning the favor. We traded words of encouragement while inside I wondered how in the world I was going to keep going and wondered with each stride where the next would come from. I crossed the finish line at 1:17:53. I felt I should have done better, but I did feel good that I had given, or had coaxed out of me, a 100% effort.
It was a nice race, well run, and well organized, with a solid crew of volunteers. The post race spread was wonderful. (Fresh coffee!) It was a small race that did not feel small at all. I suspect I will be back next year.
