Christian ThompsonFive days after a top-30 finish in the Boston Marathon, Christian Thompson won the Chickamauga Chase 15-kilometer race Saturday morning in the national battlefield park.
Thompson finished the 9.3-mile course in 50 minutes, 55 seconds - well off his 15k-best 46:12 from five years ago in Utica, N.Y., but nearly two minues ahead of second-place Jason Altman of Knoxville, the four-time winner of November's Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon. Altman finished in 52:41.
Former Chickamauga Chase victor Geno Phillips was third overall and the masters winner in 53:41. Last year's runner-up, Chad Dean (54:44), and Rodney Stoker (54:57) also finished in under 55 minutes.
Rachel Mason of Hixson was the first female finisher and 11th overall in 1:02:42, nearly six minutes faster than in 2016, when she was the Chase women's runner-up three months after having a baby. Andy Gean and masters winner Dianna Leun were the second and third women to finish Saturday, and they were 14th and 15th overall with Sara Gibson 18th.
Mason, 31, admitted she wanted to break an hour but was happy with the win.
"It was a great run, especially considering the circumstances," said the exercise physiologist and former Florida Southern runner from Collierville, Tenn., who attended graduate school at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and stayed in the area. "I've been taking antibiotics (for a sinus condition), and I'm recovering from a sciatic-nerve issue.
"(But) we had great conditions, a fun atmosphere, great competition, and it's always well organized."
There were 261 finishers in the 15k, 99 in the 8-mile trail race and 354 in the 5k, plus a 5k wheelchair finisher, Jim Kean.
Michael Conkel of Lookout Mountain, Ga., won the trail race in 53:19, followed by Chris Jackson in 55:25, Aaron Clark in 57:38, Matthew Newsom in 58:09 and Sloane Anderson in 58:21. Kiersten Boyd was the women's winner and 13th overall in 1:06:45, and Nicole Griffin and Lea Mulligan were 15th and 16th in the Wild Trails series event.
Dalton High School junior Derek Gallardo was the 5k winner in 16:59, with Joey Greer, 31, second in 18:37. Renee Jackson of Athens, Ga., was the female winner and ninth overall in 20:20.
Gallardo said he had to stop and ask for directions near the end of the 5k course, which may have cost him "15 to 30 seconds," but still beat his best 5k time from cross country season by nearly a minute.
Thompson, 28, was slowed a little by his recovery from Monday's 26.2-mile race in Boston, where he finished 29th out of more than 27,000 participants. He won the Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon on March 5.
"My legs were pretty sore, but it was fun to get out and run this cool race," he said. "This was my first time for this race, but I did about half of my Boston Marathon training here - the other half at Camp Jordan - and I probably could have run the course with my eyes closed."
Thompson moved to Chattanooga from Winston-Salem, N.C., last June. He works for Fleet Feet Sports and officiates soccer matches. He played soccer growing up in central New York but focused on running after recovering from an ACL tear, and he ran collegiately for Colorado.
He has no immediate plans for specific races but said he does want to run the California International Marathon in December. It's the U.S. Marathon Championship and will give him a chance to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.