North Carolina resident Brandon Hudgins was a little surprised to find himself in the lead at the top of Minnekahda, the chief of several climbs in the annual Chattanooga Chase 8-kilometer road race Monday from Riverview Park.
But the 2016 qualifier in the Olympic Trials' 1500-meter run knew then he should be the first across the finish line.
And he was, in 26 minutes, 1 second. Ooltewah resident Christian Thompson, who has become the local running superstar in his two years in the area, was second in 26:28 with Lee University runner Christian Noble third in 27:00.
An even bigger surprise for Hudgins was that he did not win the subsequent 1-mile Chase race on a flat out-and-back. With a light rain falling, the former Appalachian State runner was second to Noble by more than six seconds, 4:24.71 to 4:31.09.
Hudgins, 31, admitted he expected to win both races but would have thought the outcomes would have been flipped if told he would be first in one and second in the other.
"I probably wore the wrong shoes for the mile. I was slipping and sliding - I just couldn't catch him," he said. "But he ran a very tough race. He would've been tough for me to beat anyway."
Chattanooga's Jessica Marlier, 32, repeated her 2017 women's 8k win. She was 30th overall in 31:56.
Belmont runner Kiera Weems, 22, was the women's 1-mile winner and 15th overall in 5:25.29.
"This was my first race since Boston, and my mileage has been a lot lower than my marathon training," said Marlier, who has been giving a lot of attention to her job at the new REI store.
She said she both looks forward to and "dreads" the hilly Chase and did not begin it with the assumption of winning.
"You never know when you line up," she said. "I just wanted to push myself to do the best I can and have fun. I wanted to run smart up the hills and run fast down the hills."
Jessica MarlierThat was Hudgins' strategy, too.
"I lived in Boone, North Carolina, for eight years. I know how to run hills even though I'm a short-distance runner," he said.
Noble acknowledged that the 8k "had some big hills. I didn't expect that many hills."
He redshirted this spring for Lee but excels at distances from 1500 to 5000 meters, and he is running the 3000 steeplechase at the Music City Distance Carnival this weekend in Nashville.
He was told about Hudgins upon arrival Monday, so he was doubly pleased to have challenged him in one race and to have outrun him at his specialty.
"He's a tough guy," the 21-year-old said. "I think we both were a little tired after running the 8k, but it was a great race."
Hudgins has triumphed in Chattanooga before, including the inaugural Cam Run and Magnum Mile two years ago in memory of good friend Cameron Bean, who died of injuries from being struck by a car while running. They were fierce rivals as Southern Conference competitors - Bean for Samford - but became buddies after Bean moved to Boone and they worked together.
Bean was instrumental in Hudgins continuing to run at a high level despite serious vasculitis, or inflamed blood vessels. Three years ago he became the first vasculitis patient to run a sub-four-minute mile.
"He's one of the reasons I'm the person I am," said Hudgins, who last year published a book: "Going the Distance: The Journey of a Vasculitis Patient on the Road to Olympic glory." The cover photo is of Hudgins winning the Magnum Mile.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.
CHATTANOOGA CHASE 8K
Saturday morning from Riverview Park
Overall winners: Brandon Hudgins 26:01; Jessica Marlier (30) 31:56. Masters winners: Jeremy Miller (22) 30:58; Celeste Neville 35:02. Grand masters winners: Ryan Shrum (28) 31:43; Karen Leavitt 42:37. Senior grand masters winners: Mayes Starke 34:51; Cathy Gracey 49:26. Veteran winners: Sergio Bianchini 42:22; Sue Anne Brown 58:14.
Top 3 per age group (and top 30 overall)
FEMALES
14-under: Emmy Holliday 52:52, Elizabeth Igou 53:56. 15-19: Julia Agan 38:54, Ella Ensign 42:29, Ana Roach 42:42. 20-24: Clara Wolfe 40:59, Madison Eubanks 42:28, Molly Blatt 43:58. 25-29: Jennifer Huwe 34:15, Brooke Leadbetter 35:30, Kristen Bonsor 36:20. 30-34: Mary Ballinger 34:53, Mary Dawkins 37:42, Toni Schaffer 39:24. 35-39: Juanita Chalmers 36:26, Kathryn Outlaw 36:45, Jill Braley 37:04. 40-44: Kristen Curtis 36:04, Rachel Farris 37:30, Janis Kelman 37:58. 45-49: Lisa Logan 39:14, Heather Dirkse 41:01, Sonja Fordham 42:01. 50-54: Janet Kramer-Mai 45:50, Cynthia Hoeng 47:43, Paige Shaw 49:24. 55-59: Christy Charman 51:19, Corinne Henderson 51:30, Gwen Meeks 53:24. 60-64: Deborah Nash 59:20, Gincy May 1:09:52, Gina Copeland 1:24:15. 65-69: Kristine Johnson 56:04, Veronica Foley 1:03:15, Rosemary Hurayt 1:05:31. 70-over: Voreata Waddell 1:05:31, Bonnie Wassin 1:10:07, Jackie Williams 1:32:30.
MALES
14-under: Xian Campbell 32:03, Gavin Chandler 32:10, Davis Justice 37:45. 15-19: Adan Rodriguez (8) 28:35, Lance Sotelo (11) 28:44, Chris Duncan (14) 29:31, Micaiah Allison (20) 30:44, John Arrowsmith (21) 30:49. 20-24: Christian Noble (3) 27:00, Moises Ponce (4) 27:16, Nick McCormick (5) 27:23, Joseph Wilson (24) 31:08. 25-29: Christian Thompson (2) 26:28, Ry Glover (7) 28:29, Jether English (9) 28:41, Seth Yernye (12) 29:02, Ken Curran (23) 31:02. 30-34: Nathan Holland (6) 27:46, Kevin Huwe (13) 29:28, Adam Veron (16) 29:43, Andy Highlander (17) 30:05, Kyle Fitzgerald (26) 31:28, Quinn Schaffer (29) 31:43. 35-39: Chad Dean (10) 28:43, Nicholas Selbo (15) 29:36, Ryan McGinnis (18) 30:32, Owen Speer (19) 30:39, Gavin McKinney (25) 31:22. 40-44: Rafael Carmona 32:00, Mark Malecky 32:22, Jose Pulido 33:27. 45-49: Tripp McCallie (27) 31:31, Todd Viens 32:05, Robert Binkley 32:44. 50-54: Robert Barnes 34:57, Jeff Matlock 35:11, Carlton Vollberg 36:40. 55-59: Tulio Soto 37:34, Larry Gammon 38:12, Thomas Marshall 39:03. 60-64: Jeff Stracener 38:23, Michael Leary 38:33, Angel Rivera 39:58. 65-69: Greg Heath 41:28, John Crawley 43:00, Dan Myers 46:11. 70-over: Terry Parks 57:08, Louis Anderson 1:01:39, Frank Patterson 1:12:35.
CHATTANOOGA CHASE 1-MILE
Overall winners: Christian Noble 4:24.71; Kiera Weems (15) 5:25.29. Masters winners: Tim Ensign (10) 5:15.75; Leslie Latterman 6:56.17. Grand masters winners: Mayes Starke 6:12.45; Cathy Gracey 8:37.05. Senior grand masters winners: Angel Rivera 6:40.13; Jane Ensign 16:33.15.
Age-group winners (and top 20 overall)
FEMALES
10-under: Lilly Catalawatto 7:01.37. 11-14: Hannah Faudi 5:51.02. 15-19: Kathryn Vradenburgh 5:50.93. 20-24: Meredith Gaston 12:51.82. 25-29: Jennifer Huwe 5:53.99. 30-34: Desiree Robinson 7:32:04. 35-39: Lally Adams 6:51.85. 40-44: Nancy Murphy 8:59.51. 45-49: Marla Hood 10:19.24. 60-64: Martha Morrow 16:48.03. 65-69: Donna Shannon 19:44.71. 70-over: Dale Morrow 16:47.35.
MALES
10-under: Tayor Combs 6:28.35. 11-14: Gavin Chandler (16) 5:25.82, Xian Campbell (17) 5:27.46. 15-19: Chase Faudi (3) 4:40.20, Jackson Lillard (9) 5:09.66. 20-24: Moises Ponce (4) 4:46.44, Nick McCormick (5) 4:49.30, Charlie Legac (20) 5:34.74. 25-29: Jether English (7) 4:50.39, Ken Curran (11) 5:17.92. 30-34: Brandon Hudgins (2) 4:31.09, John Woodman (6) 4:50.17, Adam Veron (8) 5:09.37. 35-39: Chad Dean (13) 5:23.20, Owen Speer (14) 5:23.81. 40-44: Jeremy Miller (12) 5:22.03, Mark Malecky (19) 5:34.40. 45-49: Robert Binkley (18) 5:31.97. 50-54: Dave Porfiri 7:34.32. 55-59: Bill Minehan 6:29.91. 60-64: Michael Leary 6:54.27. 65-69: Steven Hall 6:41.29. 70-over: Earl Kelle 12:32.83.