Marchant, Berry are winners at Missionary Ridge

Lanni Marchant crosses the finish line to claim the women’s overall crown at the Missionary Ridge Road Race on Saturday. Photo by Jim Tanner

After spending more time than she’d like cooped up inside studying for the bar exam this summer, former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga runner Lanni Marchant stretched her legs in a big way Saturday morning.

Marchant, who recently graduated from Michigan State law school and took the bar exam in July, was the women’s overall winner at the John Bruner Memorial Missionary Ridge Road Race.

“It was good, but quite hilly,” she said. “The last mile and a half I could feel where my fitness is still not quite there yet. But it was good for a first race back to kind of test the waters.”

Marchant, an associated at the law firm of Davis and Hoss, finished the 4.7 mile route in 26 minutes and 57 seconds, and she said that it’s been tough to balance studying with running over the past few months.

“You try to justify going out for an hour run instead of that extra hour of studying,” she said. “And sometimes you just couldn’t justify it and you had to stay inside and study.”