Marathon schedule
Events will be held at First Tennessee Pavilion unless otherwise noted.Saturday7-8:30 a.m.: Registration and packet pick-up for Classic 150 5K9-10 a.m.: 5K (one-hour time limit)9 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Expo/packet pickup/registration10 a.m.: 5K awards11 a.m.: Kids’ race (one mile)Sunday6-7 a.m.: Emergency packet pickup6-7:30 a.m.: Bag drop at race finish6-7:30 a.m.: Busing from finish line to start8 a.m.: Marathon, marathon relay and half marathon start at Broad Street and Aquarium Way9-9:45 a.m.: Live music performed by the Knob Creek Girls9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Race expo/post-race party/food/awards10-10:45 a.m.: Live music performed by Rick Rushing and the Blues Strangers11 a.m.: Half marathon awardsNoon to 12:45 p.m.: Live music performed by Kofi Mawuko and the Ogya World Music Band1 p.m.: Marathon awards
Drew Bailey and Alex Cruikshank hope to do more than just entertain runners and spectators during this weekend's Chattanooga Marathon while they ramp up the brainwave-monitoring program they piloted at the race last year.
The duo also hopes to gather enough data to begin exploring an emerging scientific frontier.
Nine runners in Saturday's 5K and 10 in Sunday's full marathon will wear headsets that transmit a reading of their brainwaves to an app on their phones and back to a website that will be streamed live on a monitor in the First Tennessee Pavilion during the race.
The race-supported project is one piece in an effort by the city and the Chattanooga Sports Committee to create an engaging atmosphere near the race's finish line. It will also be a first step in exploring Chattanooga's psychogeography.
"It was more entertainment last year than anything, just to see if we could make something happen," said Bailey, an assistant professor specializing in outdoor recreation research at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. "This year, we're changing the visuals. But the biggest thing, I think, is we're tying it in to more science."
Bailey's students have gone through each half-mile of the 26.2-mile full marathon course, helping their professor develop a heat map that highlights the areas of the course with the most green space.
"There is a whole line of research out there about how outdoor environments are conducive to restoring mental attention," Bailey said. "ADHD is relieved by green space."
They plan to track changes in runners' brainwaves to see if those areas cause mental changes. The two believe that areas with lots of spectators could also cause a fluctuation in excitement that is picked up by the brain monitors.
"It's really exciting, the idea that we can start to talk about how the course itself affects the runners and actually have some science behind it," said Cruikshank, the general manager of Chattanooga's office of Carbon Five, a tech company.
Cruikshank designed the app and the website, chattanooga-marathon-brainwaves.com, where data will be live-streamed during Saturday's 5K and Sunday's full marathon.
"We're interested in doing a whole psychogeographic map of Chattanooga and just seeing how people respond to different places, which of course has an impact for urban planning and all kinds of stuff," Bailey said. "That's where we're headed with this, and the marathon is a great place to start."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.
Road Closures
Saturday The following streets will be closed between 8-10:30 a.m. - Main Street from Reggie White Boulevard to Market Street - Eastbound Main Street from Market Street to Madison Street - Main Street from Reggie White Boulevard to Market Street - Cowart Street from Main Street to West 13th Street - West 13th Street from Cowart Street to Carter Street - Northbound Carter Street from Main Street to West 13th Street - No parking on the south side of Main Street from 1 a.m. to noon. CPD will be directing traffic at Broad and Market streets. to allow traffic to cross between runners. The following streets will be closed from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. - Main Street from Reggie White Boulevard to Broad Street - Chestnut Street from West 20th Street to West 13th Street - West 13th Street from Chestnut Street to Carter Street - Northbound Carter Street from Main Street to West 13th Street Sunday The following roads will be closed from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m. (roads and lanes will be re-opened as runners clear each area): - Aquarium Way from Chestnut Street to Market Street, 7:30-9 a.m. - Broad Street from Aquarium Way to M.L. King Boulevard, 7:30-9 a.m. - M.L. King Boulevard from Broad Street to Market Street, 7:30-9 a.m. - Market Street from West 20th Street to M.L. King Boulevard will be one lane each direction, 7:30-9 a.m. - Westbound traffic on Riverfront Parkway from Lindsay Street to Molly Lane - Eastbound West 13th Street from Carter Street to Broad Street - Northbound Carter Street from Main Street to West 13th Street - Access between River Street and Frazier Avenue (use Manufacturers Road for access) - The Barton Avenue ramp from Frazier Avenue ' The Battery Place exit ramp - St. Elmo Avenue between Tennessee Avenue and West 38th Street