Jon Hager works as a death investigator and teaches forensic science, but he said it was just a coincidence that he decided to run a marathon in the park commemorating the second deadliest battle of the Civil War.
"I'm originally from Minnesota, and I didn't know anything about it until I entered this race and started getting emails about the history," the 39-year-old Cumming, Ga., resident said Saturday morning in Fort Oglethorpe after winning the 36th Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 22 seconds.
"I needed a 12-week span for training, and I started August 1st looking for something," said Hager, who now has run four marathons with the last previous one in February 2014 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "This was the only one (reasonably close to home) that fit that span.
"I loved it. It was very challenging."
Hager saw three deer during the picturesque race and said the sunny, slightly chilly weather was perfect.
Chattanooga's Alan Outlaw was second in 2:41:53 in his first marathon in three years, and former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout Kathleen Turchin returned from Atlanta for her first marathon and was the women's winner and 13th overall in 3:06:27.
Turchin, an emergency room nurse at Emory Midtown hospital, won the Chickamauga Chase 15k in April 2006. She ran a half marathon last Thanksgiving, she said, but wanted only to beat 3:15 in her first 26.2-miler and did that easily.
"It was fun. It was a little cold, but it was a great course and I met some nice people," Turchin said. "It's a beautiful place."
Ashley Matthews was the second female finisher and 24th overall in 3:15.58.
Bradley Adams was third overall in 2:48:50, and masters winner Ryan Shrum, Charles Smith, grand masters winner Hugh Enicks and Greg Rankin also finished in less than three hours.
Hager and Outlaw were together through about the 12-mile mark, "and then I did a long, long surge and I pulled away," said the winner, whose "Run All Out" shirt was a tribute to training partner and race adviser Andrew Cawood back in Suwanee, Ga.
Outlaw, a previous Battlefield Marathon runner-up who won the first 7 Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga, beat those times Saturday despite his long-run hiatus that included taking over ownership, with Zach Winchester, of the Fast Break store.
Saturday he kept thinking he might could surge late or Hager may fall back some. In the meantime, he maintained a pretty steady pulse rate and never felt better after a marathon.
"I was trying to make it to 20 (miles) with a 155 heart rate, and I averaged 156 for the race," Outlaw said. "The most it got to was 160. I thought I might get a couple of 5:50s (per-mile pace) in the last four miles, but I didn't have it in me."
He ran with "VAN" and "CAM" printed on the backs of his shoe soles, in memory of Van Townsend, his "late-life coach" who died of cancer in the past year and Cameron Bean, who worked at the store and ran with him some, including the day before Bean was struck by a motorist in what caused his death.
"Those guys have really been on my mind - and Cam's family," Outlaw said.
Shrum finished in the top four for the fourth consecutive year - two of those as runner-up - and at age 48 was marveling at the 56-year-old Enicks, a three-time Battlefield Marathon winner. Both missed a couple of key training weeks recently for medical reasons.
"I would love to win one, but I'm proud," Shrum said of his consistent challenges.
Lucas Stocks edged Patrick Hall, 1:17:18 to 1:17:46, for the half marathon victory, with Hope Goodpasture the women's winner in 1:30:46. Ken Poterfield clipped 13-year-old Chase Faudi, 17:41 to 17:44, for the 5k win; Kate Umbarger, 15, was the fastest female in 22:47.