River Gorge 10.2 Mile Race Report by Aaron Saft

What a day for a race in Chattanooga! The Rock Creek River Gorge 10.2 Mile race was an amazing experience. A top notch event I'd recommend to any one who has the guts to accept the challenging/technical course that this race has to offer. For starters, it was 45 degrees at race time, a steady down pour of rain, accompanied by a thunder and lightning storm that made me flinch a few times. Ideal conditions for a moron like me to go for a course record! We stood at the start waiting for the starter to get us going. I started talking to the locals who knew the course & found out we had a quarter of a mile (uphill) on a service road before we hit the single track which would last the remainder of the course. In other words, this would be a sprint for position to the single track. Ready? Well at this point I couldn't feel any extremity as I was numb. So sure, why not. Let's do this! Off we went up the hill. I entered the single track in 2nd overall, & Alan (who was in first) was kind enough to permit me by. Thank you Alan! We made our way to the first aid station around 3.5 miles, & I found myself alone by mile 2. When this happens, I run scared. Every noise sounds like a footstep on my heels, so I kept pushing my pace. The course was marked by white blazes (two white blazes meant grab a tree & swing 180 degrees!) and yellow flags. Running through the aid station I continued into the more "technical" trails of the course. This would include many 180 degree switch backs, creek crossings, tree hopping, & rock avoiding. Thankfully I wore my X-Talon 212's. Everything from the leaves to the rocks was slick. Good times! The next aid station was in the middle of a climb at mile 7. I continued on my quest knowing that a "Rock Garden" lay in wait 1.5 miles in my future. I finished the climb & came down an awesome stone stairway to a gentleman that warned me the rock garden was 200 yards ahead. I had no idea what I was in for. That's not true, I knew there would be rocks, but Holy Moly! We could have rebuilt the Castle of Camelot, & every building within a 10 mile radius! Once through the Rock Garden we had a final ascent to the finish. When I saw the clock read 1:08, I had an inkling I had broke the course record. My official time was 1:08:31, breaking the previous 2002 record by 2 minutes. Second & third place respectively were as follows: Jacob Bradley (Ringgold, GA), 1:10:08 Theodore Towse (Nashville, TN), 1:14:19 Thanks to Rock Creek for a great event! Congrats to all who finished the 6.5 & 10.2 mile races in those conditions! Next up, the Dupont Forrest 1/2 Marathon here in Western North Carolina on April 9th. Congrats to Ryan Woods for breaking my old Course Record at the Bel Monte 25k! Ryan & I were teammates at NC State University & agreed today that its great to be teammates once again! Thanks Inov-8!