Chickamauga Battlefield Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This was the begining for my 2009 season, so I had no real goal in mind but to have fun and enjoy the run. I had a good run and a strong finish. I started off slow and negative split each 1/4 of the race, so I was happy.



I regret not running the full somewhat.

This is a great, low-key race run through a beautiful course - an out and back from the start/finish to a looped course - 1 loop for the 1/2, 2 for the full. This is a good course for a PR or BQ. Aid stations every 1.5-2 miles with water, powerdade, and fruit. Not many portapots, but plenty of trees. Nice post-race area set-up with a band, decent selection of food and drinks, massage, and a few vendors. Great technical race t-shirts.

Due to the course, there is not a lot of crowd support for this race. There were plenty of runners (1400 half and full total). Accordingly, this may not be the best first marathon course if crowd support is important.

Chattanooga Track Club does a great job with their races and this was no exception. This is a well organized non-city event at a great time of year to end a season or jump-start another. This was the first year of a half marathon option and spaces sold out a week before the race. The marathon sold out a few days later. I imagine with the half and full options, this race will continue to gain in popularity, as well as from the deserved publicity in Runner's World naming it a "must-do" marathon. However, given the width of the roads and paths, I do not see the number of spaces increasing, so sign-up early.