Jason Altman wins Battlefield Marathon again

photo Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon winner Jason Altman stands with his family (they live in Knoxville, but his wife is from Ooltewah).
Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Jason Altman has become the Giant of the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon.

The director of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon has won the 26.2-mile race through the local military park in 2010, 2012 and now 2014 -- the same years San Francisco has won baseball's World Series.

Altman finished second in the 2011 marathon and won the accompanying Battlefield Half Marathon last year. On Saturday he was back in the big race -- his first 26.2-mile competition since his 2012 triumph at the Fort Oglethorpe event -- and breezed to the finish in 2 hours, 41 minutes, 7 seconds on a gorgeous morning through spectacular scenery.

Trenton, Ga., resident Tabatha Hamilton was the first female finisher and sixth overall in 2:54.21, a personal record by "six or seven minutes," she said. She's a medical coder for Children's Doctors on Battlefield Parkway.

Hamilton, 31, was not challenged in her first marathon win. Lillian Gilmer from Nashville was the second woman and female masters winner in 3:21:28, with Crissy Ivey of Pendergrass, Ga., next in 3:22:14.

"My legs are lead -- and shaky," Hamilton said just after the race.

The 35-year-old Altman basically was unchallenged as well. Juan Soto, 29, of Gainesville, Ga., was the runner-up in 2:43:59, with Peter Volgyesi of Nashville, Ryan Shrum of East Ridge and three-time winner Hugh Enicks of Signal Mountain completing the top five.

Shrum was second last year but improved his time Saturday to 2:50:46 in repeating as the masters winner.

Soto said he ran third most of the race in his Chickamauga debut but caught Volgyesi at about 20 miles and they went back and forth for a while. In his eighth marathon in the last four years, Soto PRed by about two minutes.

"A couple of friends told me about this marathon," he said. "They said it was a great race and you could do a really good time. It's a beautiful course."

He said he never really went after Altman because his goal was to beat 2:46 and he focused on "running on pace" for that.

"A nice even pace" similarly came from the 55-year-old Enicks, who also has won the event's half marathon three times on a day he always appreciates -- Saturday near Veterans Day -- as a retired Army lieutenant colonel. He was content with another top-five finish and the grand masters plaque four weeks after running a marathon in Minnesota and four weeks before the U.S. Track and Field cross country masters nationals in Lehigh, Pa.

Last year's Chickamauga women's winner, Jessica Marlier, ran a marathon in Columbus, Ohio, three weeks ago and planned to be a pacer Saturday. She was present but didn't run at all because she was bumped during a training run Monday in Red Bank by a white pickup truck. The driver didn't stop, by the way.

Altman and his family annually enjoy the trip to the Chickamauga Battlefield because they get to stop in Ooltewah and visit the grandparents of his wife. The former Kristy Chastain is an Ooltewah High School graduate.

Chattanoogan Jack Findley won the 840-finisher half marathon by almost 10 minutes in 1:14:59, and Atlanta's Laura Gold was the women's winner in 1:31:44. Sean Giuffre and Eunice Campbell were the masters winners, John Gracy and Christine Kirk the grand masters winners and Keith Woodward and Kathi Wagner the senior grand masters winners.

Chase Faudl, 12, and Mattie Parker, 13, were the 5k winners in 19:09 and 21:50.

Contact Ron Bush at rbush@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6291.

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