Note: I wrote this recap of the 2010 Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon for the Chattanoogan.com.
Fort Oglethorpe, GA–The 31st running of the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, a Chattanooga Track Club production, saw the fastest finisher since 1999. Jason Altman, a Knoxville native and member of the racing team Runner’s Market, won the race in 2 hours, 39 minutes, 44 seconds after a 17 mile dual with Gwinnett Running Club member Dan Fassinger, who finished second in 2 hours, 40 minutes, 10 seconds. Runner’s Market runner Matt Lawhern finished in third place.
Altman and Lawhern, who not only race for the same team but are frequent training partners, were co-leaders of the race in its early stages. The two were joined by Fassinger around mile five, and Lawhern quickly slipped back into third place. By mile eight, Jason Altman and Dan Fassinger were dueling alone, a position they would hold until after they passed the 24th mile marker.
It appeared that Altman had broken Fassinger as early as mile 11. Right after the 11th mile marker, Fassinger dropped his arms to his side and shook them, an action many runners take when they are starting to fatigue and cramp. Within half a mile of that, Altman had opened a 10 step lead over the younger runner.
The record shows, however, that Fassinger wasn’t fatiguing that early.
“I was feeling pretty good at that point in the race,” the 26 year old Fassinger said afterwards. “I was shaking my arms out to keep loose and not tighten up.”
“Dan was a little bit slower than I was at the water stops,” Altman explained. The 31 year old finished in 8th place at Chickamauga in 2005, when he finished in 3 hours, 3 minutes. “I kept the same stride (at the water stops) while he slowed down, so that’s how I opened that gap up. But it only lasted about a mile, and then he closed it back up.”
It would be another several miles before Fassinger’s race preparations would catch up with him. The Western Carolina University alumnus said that he only ran between 50 and 55 miles a week leading into the marathon.
“My training hadn’t been going as well as I’d hoped,” Fassinger admitted. “I’m not doing as many miles as I should, and I suffered for that towards the end. I felt good through about 18 or 19 miles, and then my legs started cramping up a little bit.”
Altman said that he was concerned about letting the race be determined by a finishing kick, as Fassinger was an 800 meter specialist during his time at Western Carolina. Almost immediately after passing the 24th mile, Altman pushed the pace enough to break Fassinger, and the Knoxville runner extended his lead to 26 seconds over the final two miles of the race.
The women’s race was won by Canton, GA resident Kaye Starosciak. Starosciak’s winning time of 3 hours, 3 minutes, 44 seconds was a seven minute personal best. She led the race wire to wire and was generally unchallenged; Kaari Linask, the second place female, finished in 3 hours, 25 minutes, 12 seconds. The third female finisher was Allison Bahe (3 hours, 27 minutes, 12 seconds).
Local running staple Hugh Enicks took home the victor’s laurels after winning the half marathon race in 1 hour, 19 minutes, 45 seconds. William Warner (1 hour, 22 minutes, 18 seconds) and Greg Hosier (1 hour, 25 minutes, 21 seconds) finished second and third, respectively. Laura Peterson was the female champion; she broke the tape in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 48 seconds. Vanessa Erens was the second place woman (1 hour, 36 minutes, 24 seconds), while Lisa Logan (1 hour, 39 minutes, 10 seconds) took home the bronze.
The two events (full and half marathon) had a combined 1, 113 finishers. 502 people finished the marathon. 611 finished the half marathon.
The marathon was the third leg of the Chattanooga Track Club’s three part race series titled The Battle for Chattanooga. The series, which is spread over a calendar year, consists of the Chickamauga Chase, a 15 kilometer race in April; the Missionary Ridge Road Race, a 4.7 mile race in August; and the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon, which takes place on the second Saturday of every November.