Race Reports

Rob Hall : Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon
26.2 Miles of History
November 8, 2008

The Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park is located in northern Georgia and preserves the site of one of the bloodiest battles of the American Civil War. It is run by the National Park Service and is open during the race. The site preserves the grounds for a battle fought in September of 1863 (won by the Confederates). The name, Chickamauga, is a Cherokee word meaning “river of death” and is the name of a creek in the area.

It was less than 8 hours to drive over to Chattanooga, TN. I spent Friday night at an Extended Stay America just across the state line in TN. It was a few miles from the start. The packet pick-up started at 6 AM, and was in the 6th Cavalry Museum. I got there early and parked against the ropes for the runner’s area. It did not take long to get the hat, t-shirt, chip, and bib, and I spent the time waiting for the 7:30 AM start in the truck.

I had 3 other people (Gary F., George M., and Leslie M.) from the Raleigh area running the race with me and I soon found them before the start. It is easy to find others when the total for the marathon was 600 and the half was 700. We had to wait in the cold as they actually held up the start until everyone was done with the port-o-johns.

The course does two loops in the park on paved roads. It was described as challenging but not extraordinarily difficult, and I would say it was less difficult than some runs in this area. It was one of the most scenic marathons with beautiful fall foliage and green fields with round bails. There were few spectators, but plenty of nice volunteers. The finisher medal was very nice and the face was from the Michigan monument (changes each year). The post race banana pudding and homemade pimento cheese was worth the trip. One of our runners went back five times to help keep them from having leftovers. We also got a box of Little Debbie snack cakes (started in the area), thanks to Leslie, before we left to go back to Raleigh.