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At the Starting Line: Inaugural Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon is community effort

By Kelsie Bowman March 1, 2016 11 min read

Photo Gallery

At the Starting Line: Chattanooga Marathon

Susan Burran, Marina Smitherman, Carrie Anderson and Kara Rainey, from left, motivate runners as they make their way to the finish line during a previous 7 Bridges Marathon.

Dawn Fowler gets the crowd riled up during the full Ironman's second visit to the Scenic City in 2015.

Brian Myrick, the race director for the Little Debbie IRONMAN Chattanooga, mingles amongst the crowd during a press conference announcing that McKee Foods will be the title sponsor for the inaugural Little Debbie Chattanooga IRONMAN event taking place on September 28, 2014. The debut Chattanooga IRONMAN will consist of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle section followed by a full-marathon 26.2-mile run. The top finishers will be competing for 50 spots in the IRONMAN World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and the race features a $25,000 prize purse, according to the event's website.

Local athlete Anna Cleaver makes her way across the Walnut Street Bridge on her way to place 10th in the professional women's field in the inaugural Sunbelt Bakery Ironman 70.3 in 2015.

Schedule of Events

Monday, March 41-7 p.m. Expo/Packet pickup/Registration at First Tennessee PavilionSaturday, March 57-8:30 a.m. Registration and packet pickup for Classic 150 5k9-10 a.m. Classic 150 5k starts from First Tennessee Pavilion9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Expo/Packet pickup/Registration10 a.m. Classic 150 5k awards11 a.m. Kids’ 1-mile Fun Run starts from First Tennessee Pavilion11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Live entertainmentSunday, March 66-7 a.m. Emergency packet pickup at First Tennessee Pavilion6-7:30 a.m. Bag drop at race finish/Shuttle from finish line to race start6:30-8 a.m. Morning clothes drop at race start8 a.m. Marathon, marathon relay, half marathon start at Broad Street and Tennessee Aquarium9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Post-race party and food11 a.m. Half marathon awards1 p.m. Marathon awards

Technology Run

Ever wonder what’s going on inside the brain of a long-distance runner? Thanks to the UTC Department of Health and Human Performance, Carbon Five and EBP, you can find out at the Chattanooga Marathon Expo.UTC’s Dr. Gary Liguori says a couple of the marathon’s runners will wear special headbands with EEG technology, which detects brainwaves, as well as armbands that — thanks to the expertise of Alex Cruikshank with Carbon Five, a local collaborative software development and design firm — will transmit data to EPB’s TVs at First Tennessee Pavilion on race day. Displays will show color-coded maps of the range of emotions the runners are going through, in real time.“The marathon is an intermediate step for us,” says Liguori, explaining that the department’s newfound partnership with Carbon Five will help them take the technology a step farther. “We personally in our department want to take it further after the marathon and do some actual research with the technology … looking how being in the outdoors affects the brain.”

When it comes to major outdoor sporting events, Chattanooga is basking in a national, even global, spotlight. The city successfully hosted the U.S. Pro Cycling Championships three years in a row, not to mention both the full and half Ironman events, with the 70.3 World Championship hitting the Scenic City’s streets in 2017.

It’s pretty impressive, and we’re extremely proud.

But Tim Morgan, president of the Chattanooga Visitors Bureau’s Sports Committee, says the city is still missing something. “This is a market that should be hosting a 5,000-, 10,000-, potentially 15,000-person running event,” he says. “And we don’t have that.”