What more can we say that hasn’t been said? Rock/Creek’s Chattanooga Mountains Stage Race has come and gone, and it was exactly the sort of spectacular weekend that we’ve come to expect from this event.
Salomon athlete and StumpJump 50k course-record-holder David Riddle made the trip from Cincinnati for this one, and did not disappoint with an impressive win and new course record. Previous CR-holder Daniel Mueller finished a strong second place, just a few minutes off of his 2011 pace. After some position shuffling, an injury-related DNF and a bit of number-crunching on our end, Ooltewah’s Bob Adams took home third place despite a late charge by Olaf Wasternack and Mitchell Pless.
Among the women, Sarah Gollub won two stages and Meredith Smith won the other, with Sarah taking the overall win. Kathy Youngren finished third. Visit UltraSignup for complete race results.
Top Men’s Finishers:
David Riddle, 31, Cincinatti (OH), 6:47:15 (course record)
Daniel Mueller, 27 Nashville (TN), 6:59:22
Bob Adams, 33, Ooltewah (TN), 7:12:40
Top Women’s Finishers:
Sarah Gollub, 25, Nashville (TN), 9:05:26
Meredith Smith, 42, Ashland City (TN), 9:15:09
Kathy Youngren, 38, Huntsville (AL), 9:26:26
Here are links to photo sets from each day — there are quite a few! We’ll add more links if we come across any additional photo sets.
Day 1
Photos by R/C’s Jeff Bartlett
Photos by R/C’s Mark McKnight
Photos by Charlene Simmons
Day 2
Photos by R/C’s Jeff Bartlett
Photos by R/C’s Katharina Handwerker
Photos by R/C’s Mark McKnight
Photos by Charlene Simmons
Day 3
Photos by R/C’s Jeff Bartlett
Photos by R/C’s Mark McKnight
Photos by Heather Williamson-Lamar (all 3 days)
While it’s probably obvious, it bears repeating that this race would be impossible without our many volunteers and sponsors. Hosting a three-day stage race is a huge black hole for resources, and at the end of the day it’s our local trail running community, Rock/Creek employees and others who sacrifice their own time to make this happen.
Whether the crews who spent past weekends clearing fresh deadfalls from all three mountains, the Collier Construction team who drove all the aid station supplies 5 miles out to Edwards Point on a rugged 4WD road, or the dozens of Chattanooga runners up at 4:30 AM every day to set up the start/finish, we owe them all a major debt.
As always, please support Salomon, Rock/Creek and the following trail series sponsors: Toyota, Collier Construction, Patagonia, Smartwool, Get Out Chattanooga, Trail Runner Magazine, YMCA Chattanooga, Hammer Nutrition, Whole Foods Chattanooga & Suunto.
We’ll see you in August for the Still Hollow 1/2 Marathon & 10k!
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