Natasha Shipman took top honors among the 33 female finishers in this weekend's Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race and set a new all-time record in the process.
The Asheville, N.C., resident finished the three-day, 60-mile trail run in 8:12:45, making her the fastest woman in the race's 10-year history.
"She just killed it," race director Randy Whorton said. "She came through the finish super fresh."
The treacherous trails took their toll on a number of other competitors in the field, including the fastest man in the race's history, David Kilgore (Palm Bay, Fla.) who finished in 6:42:56 in 2014 but was unable to finish this year due to sickness.
Other pre-race favorites Daniel Hamilton and Patrick Regan did not finish, while Chattanooga Marathon champion Bob Adams could not compete due to a family medical situation.
Their absences opened the door for trail rookie Hunter Hall, who claimed the overall title with a time of 7:30:42 in his first ever trail race.
"It's nice to win," Hall said. "But I hate to do it at the expense of some of those other guys."
Still, it was an impressive result for the 2011 Bryan College graduate and Nashville resident who finished more than 30 minutes ahead of his closest competitor in the cumulative three-day standings.
"I've always thought I'd eventually move on to the trails, but I still have some big goals on the road side of things, mostly in the marathon," he said. "I'll probably stick with that, but I think sprinkling some trail races like this is good for training and something different to do when I'm not training for a road marathon."
Sunday's finale was a 20-mile run on Signal Mountain that followed Friday's 18-mile run on Raccoon Mountain and Saturday's 22-mile foray on Lookout Mountain.
The Mountains Stage Race is part of the Wild Trails series
"The organization was great. I never had any issues finding the trails," Hall said. "They were really well marked. The courses were gorgeous and pretty brutal, especially the third day with the terrain and hills on Signal Mountain."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.