Humphreys, Marlier win Battlefield Marathon

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

2013 Chickamauga Battlefield MarathonTop three finishers per age group and top 50 overall Saturday in the national military mark (overall finish in parentheses):Overall winners: Don Humphreys 2:51:24; Jessica Marlier (3) 2:52:59. Masters winners: Ryan Shrum (2) 2:52:01; Mary Bevis (29) 3:24:25. Grand masters winners: Hugh Enicks (4) 2:53:19; Jane Lanford (67) 3:39:30. Senior grand masters: Paul Baswell (47) 3:31:08; Deborah Schulte (251) 4:39:03.Females19-under: Robin Fleming 4:07:59. 20-24: Molly O'Brien 3:37:57, Catherine Gomez 3:57:43, Jenny Savage 4:07:41. 25-29: Carolyn Hart (13) 3:09:01, Stephanie Kynas (36) 3:26:58, Emily Spry 3:33:13. 30-34: Elisabeth Adel 3:51:42, Michaela Wilcox 3:58:39, Courtney Curtis 3:58:56. 35-39: Krista Layne (28) 3:22:57, Kelly Wiedower (43) 3:28:46, Sarah Stewart 3:41:44. 40-44: Dianna Leun (34) 3:27:05, Lisa Logan (45) 3:29:57, Julie Giese 3:35:14. 45-49: Marsha Morton (42) 3:29:24, Annie Harris (44) 3:29:48, Katherine Stickney 3:53:51. 50-54: Jo Ann Johnson 4:18:12, Laura Hudson 4:21:07, Betty Holder 4:27:29. 55-59: Haeng Hee Baek 3:50:22, Carmen Hodnett 4:21:56, Angela Elhammer 4:43:20. 60-64: Cheri Pompeo 4:44:22, Sandra Weston 5:02:37, Sue Colgan-Borror 5:36:14. 65-69: Shirley Sirois 5:10:31, Bonnie Wassin 5:39:48, Marion Landry 6:07:36.Males19-under: David Whitmore (17) 3:13:37, Hank Warren 3:55:38. 20-24: Daniel Crotts (7) 3:04:13, Seth Funderburg (27) 3:22:41, Ryan Whitmore 3:48:54. 25-29: Peter Preisinger (9) 3:07:33, Tom Scudder (48) 3:31:07, Dusty Jameson 3:38:49. 30-34: Eric Cole (14) 3:08:18, Jason McVey (16) 3:13:35, Daniel Hazelton (24) 3:17:58, Jonathan Spry (23) 3:18:02, William Frontiera (32) 3:24:35, James Pate (50) 3:32:52. 35-39: Brett Addington (5) 3:00:37, Nathan Kile (6) 3:03:08, Jason Webb (8) 3:06:50, Steven Fleming (12) 3:07:10, Mark Malecky (22) 3:17:22, David Conley (30) 3:24:58, Jeremy Miller (35) 3:25:47, Braden Mims (37) 3:27:40, David Duncan (39) 3:28:46, Danny Fleener (41) 3:29:46. 40-44: Charles McCallie (18) 3:18:57, Eric Bronkala (26) 3:22:17, John Lonseth (25) 3:22:56, Joe Sheehan (31) 3:25:27. 45-49: Mark Kuhn (15) 3:09:38, Dean Thompson (19) 3:14:35, Doug Murphy (20) 3:14:48, Mike Jones (38) 3:28:41, Duane Kroeger (40) 3:29:11. 50-54: Gregg Walchli (10) 3:06:59, Kevin Bigham (11) 3:07:44, Wayne Easterwood (21) 3:17:16, Trey Shipp (33) 3:24:55, David Corfman (46) 3:30:52, Brian Nash (49) 3:32:24. 55-59: Philip Wall (35-a) 3:26:01, Jeff Lee 3:34:08, Sean Choi 3:39:20. 60-64: Anthony Garguilo 3:44:09, John Anderson 3:51:14, Jim Evans 3:54:04. 65-69: Warren Everett 4:06:53, Kenneth Sirois 4:07:12, Craig Kelly 4:24:27. 70-over: Sergio Bianchini 4:12:12, Terrance O'Brien 4:42:34, Michael Fleming 4:52:47.

The first became a first for Don Humphreys in the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, and Jessica Marlier turned a year of personal records into a smashing achievement with a third-place overall finish and the women's victory Saturday.

Marlier finished just behind her training partner, Ryan Shrum, who finished second for the second year in a row on what could be called his home course, and three-time winner Hugh Enicks -- returning to the 26.2-mile race after winning the accompanying half marathon the last three years -- led most of the way and finished fourth at 54 years old.

In a rarity for any race, the first four finishers were the overall, masters, female and grand masters winners.

Jason Altman, the Knoxville Marathon director who won the Battlefield Marathon two of the last three years, won the half marathon Saturday in 1 hour, 14 minutes, 9 seconds, and Geno Phillips, another recent winner of the marathon, was second in 1:14:39 with Jacob Bradley third in 1:16:30. Terri Kirkman was the first female and ninth overall in 1:29:57.

Humphreys finished his first marathon in 2:51:24, just missing his goal of 2:50. The 25-year-old former Cleveland High School runner, now a software developer for Unum in Chattanooga, was quite happy with the outcome, however.

"I just got back to running last summer, and I decided I wanted to run this race," he said. "I got hurt [as a freshman] at UTC in 2007 and didn't run for five years. But I've had some good halves this year and I wanted to be under three hours for sure. My goal was 2:50, but a win is a lot more important than making that.

"I went out with Hugh. After the first half mile it was just the two of us," Humphreys related. "He dropped me at about eight miles, but I caught him about 23 and a half. I was surprised -- I think he had about a two-minute gap on me at 17 or 18 miles. Probably adrenaline let me get past him."

He suspected that Enicks, the Red Bank High School running coach and a retired Army lieutenant colonel, "cramped up or something," but Enicks said that was not the case.

"He came on my shoulder and I couldn't respond," Enicks said. "I ran the 15k two weeks ago [in the masters nationals in Tulsa, Okla.], and I still had some of that in my legs, but this was just a great race. I like the battlefield and I like this [Veterans] weekend, I qualified for the [age-group marathon] nationals for next year, and I'm still giving these young people a run for their money.

"Don ran a nice race and he's a nice young man. He ran against my son Will when they were in high school."

He also praised Shrum and Marlier, adding, "It was a good day for everybody."

Shrum, 46, and Marlier, 28, caught Enicks with about a mile to go, and Shrum pulled away from her a quarter-mile later. He finished in 2:52:39.

"I was actually very surprised to see him, but when I saw the Colonel, I got a boost of adrenaline," Shrum said. "This is my hometown race. I grew up in the Rossville and Fort Oglethorpe area, and I've been going to this battlefield since I was little -- riding horses and riding bikes, and now running. It's my favorite place to run."

He and Marlier began training together just before last year's Battlefield Marathon, which she didn't run. The Florida native who came to the area to attend Southern Adventist University has blossomed in the training, with PRs this year at the 5k, 8k, 10k and now marathon distances -- this one by over 10 minutes at 2:52:59. Her previous best was at the Boston Marathon in 2007, but she went five years before doing one in Vermont last year and qualifying for this year's Boston race.

She and Shrum were running together there when it was prematurely ended because of the bombs at the finish line.

Marlier, who began running in middle school, is a substitute teacher who officiates basketball games. She'll start running with area high school players Tuesday night.

The event based in Fort Oglethorpe also had a 5k this year. The inaugural winners at that distance were local teenagers Cory Aulich and Peggy Fults in 19:15 and 23:19.

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