Brenda Ross started running before running was cool.
She just celebrated her 60th birthday on July 15, but she’s as slim and trim and pretty today as she was 40 years ago.
Her first running experience involved entering the 50 and 100-yard dashes and the broad jump at the Cocke County Fair when she was in the eighth grade. She had immediate success by winning blue ribbons for first place in two of those three events.
She later ran track at Cocke County High School where training consisted of running laps around the football field. She made more of an impression as a cheerleader, but despite not having a track on which to train, she was an outstanding sprinter in the 100 and 220 dashes.
The standing broad jump was her specialty as she completely dominated that event and later finished fourth in the state meet as a senior.
Her distance has increased since those days, but the success has continued as she’s been a winner in just about every distance she’s ever attempted.
Ross went to the University of Tennessee after high school where she was a member of the track team and even qualified for the national championships with a time of 2:21 for the 880.
“Back then, that was good enough to go to the Nationals, which were in Denton, Texas that year. That was long before the NCAA was created, but I went with one other girl from our team as we were the only two to qualify. That was my first time to fly. I didn’t place at that meet, but it was a great experience,” she said while taking a break from her job as the Director of the Occupational Health Clinic at the Lifestyle Center on Broad Street.
“I kept going up in distance. I ran a 5:07 mile as a junior and that’s when we started a cross country team. We only ran a mile and half the first year, but the distance increased to three miles the next year and I had a time of 17:42 for three miles on the track,” she recalled with a smile.
During that time in Knoxville, she met her first husband Bill Anderson, who was an All-American track star for the Vols. They got married in 1976 and their only child Leah was born a year later.
Speed forward to 2014. Leah and her husband are now the proud parents of six-year-old Hadley and Anderson, who is five. Leah and Brenda are like best friends and they just recently got back from a nice trip to Italy where they celebrated Brenda’s birthday.
They’ll be taking another trip on the first weekend in November as they’ll be running the New York City Marathon together.
Brenda has only run six marathons, the last one at Boston in 2002. Her personal best of 3:13 came at Boston in 1984. Her first one was a 3:15 at the old First Tennessee Bank Marathon in 1979, back when the local race was held at Snow Hill.
She won that race as well.
“That was a big year for me as I trained a lot and was Runner of the Year in the Chattanooga Track Club. All I wanted to do in that first marathon was to qualify for Boston. I really didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t die,” she said, adding that she was also the women’s winner at the Rock City 10K earlier that year.
“I’ve been running all of these years, but just not always racing. It’s part of my identity. I put more effort into it when I’m training for a race. I never said that I’d never do another marathon, but I just want to have fun in New York.
“I’m on the low mileage plan as I run about four days a week with a long run of five miles. We did a 17-miler a few weeks ago and we’re planning to do a 20 this Saturday. I’m really nervous about this 20 as I’m not sure I can do it. I’m just going to New York to finish,” she smiled.
Brenda has also done some international distance triathlons in recent years with her longest race being a Half-Ironman.
“I never thought I was a good enough swimmer as I couldn’t swim one length of the pool without walking. But I’m a runner as that’s what I enjoy doing. I don’t care for the amount of training a triathlon takes, especially the bike part,” she said.
While Brenda isn’t nearly as competitive as she once was, she had amazing success back in the day.
She won the Run For Extra Life 10K in “38 something” and she won the Happy Valley Half-Marathon in 1984 in 1:24. And if you really want to see how strong she used to be, consider the fact that she won the women’s division of the Hogpen Hill Climb 10-miler in Helen, Georgia three times.
Hogpen is a race that takes place in early January. It starts in downtown Helen and finishes at Hogpen Gap, that mountaintop road where the Appalachian Trail crosses. It may be the toughest 10-mile run around.
“I won that race three times with a best of 1:23 and I said I would never walk on that course, but I walked a little bit the 10th time I ran it,” she admitted with a laugh.
Brenda was also a regular on Saturday mornings at Chickamauga Park where she would gather with a group of runners – mostly men – for a run around the Battlefield.
“We’d try to break 70 minutes for 10 miles and we did that quite a few times. Occasionally, Kathi Wagner would come run with us, but most of the time I was the only girl,” she smiled.
While Brenda is quite dedicated to her job – she’s been in that position for the last 33 years – she also has a love of photography. Her specialty is nature and specifically birds. She also has a website called www.brendarossphotography.com.
“I just want to be a positive role model for my grandchildren and I’d like to travel more. But running has been my life. I have a lot of wonderful memories and it’s a big part of me. I don’t always go long or fast, but I run,” she concluded.
Her approach to running isn’t what it used to be, but that competitive fire still burns deep in her soul. But these days, she’s participating for the pure enjoyment of it and that will be the case in New York on Nov.
2.
And from this corner, the bet is that she’ll do just fine as she cruises from the first mile to the last.
After all, she’s been doing just that for a long, long time.
(This is the 31st in a series of features on runners in the Chattanooga area. If you know of someone who would make an interesting story, email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)