Chattanooga Marathon

On the course there were not food except gels. At the finish they did have bananas,coke and water. A marathon this size should have a feast at the finish line. I finished 3rd in my age group and the award said nothing about the year or date. I guess they are just trying to make as much money as possible. The finishers metal was very nice. I think you can find a better marathon in the state of Tennessee.

This was the first year for this marathon. Unfortunately due to a 'human error' the turnaround point just after the 5 mile point was mismarked by two blocks and the marathon course ended up 0.28 miles short. What I find disappointing is the race organizers found this out on Sunday, but now four days later still have not notified the marathoners on Facebook, on the event web page, or email, yet it came out in the local Chattanooga media. The course minus the missing section had limited nice sections. Most of it seemed to be through run down neighborhoods and industrial areas. The course was rolling to very hilly especially between 9 miles and 23 miles. There were few spectators. Most were family members that moved around the course. The rest were the numerous volunteers. The expo had limited vendors. It was practically deserted when I arrived to pick up my race packet one hour before it closed on Saturday. The race organization was good. There were plenty of volunteers. Buses were provided to get you from the finish to the start. The finish line was well organized. The medal and shirt designs were not much to speak of.

Very well organized for a first time event. The course was tough, but fair and provided an opportunity to see all sides of Chattanooga. I especially liked crossing the Tennessee River twice on two different bridges. I agree that the mile markers were off for most of the race by about .4 miles until the very end when you had a very long mile from 25 to 26. The marathoners have to share the course with the half-marathoners for the first 1.5 miles, which isn't too bad, except that the start was pretty narrow and for some inexplicable reason there were plastic cones set up between two lanes even though you were able to run in either lane. I loved the enthusiasm of the race organizers and it should be a great future event for Chattanooga.