Gilpin, Stocks Victorious In Chattanooga Chase 8K

Joseph Goetz Wins One-Mile For Third Straight Year

  • Sunday, May 24, 2015
  • John Hunt
John Gilpin
John Gilpin
photo by M.A. Locke

John Gilpin has done plenty of training in North Chattanooga and is very familiar with the Chattanooga Chase and the series of hills the oldest race in Chattanooga is known for.

Jennifer Stocks has done more than her share of workouts on those roads, so she was fully aware of the challenge she faced when the starting horn sounded.

Both were overall winners in this unique 8K race as Gilpin was the overall winner in 25 minutes, 33 seconds while Stocks wasn’t far behind as the women’s overall winner, taking ninth overall with a time of 29 minutes, seven seconds.

Everyone knows about the hills, but there are times when the weather can be a force as it has been really hot in years past.  Sunday’s race was held under near-perfect conditions with virtually no humidity and temperatures in the upper 60s.

Gilpin graduated in December from UTC where he was a standout for coach Bill Gautier’s cross country and track teams.  The 23-year-old from Nashville will be here a few more years as he enters physical therapy school in the fall.

He was in a race by himself most of the way as runner-up Geno Phillips finished 35-seconds back in 26:08.

Jack McGinness was third in 26:41 while Alan Outlaw and Matt Jenkins were fourth and fifth, respectively, with times of 26:54 and 27:12.

Stocks averaged 5:52 per mile in winning with her 29:07.

Jennifer Curtis was a ways back as she finished 23rd overall in 33:12 while masters winner Lisa Logan was the third female and 33rd overall in 35:35.

Lisa Becht and Jessica Suddeth were fourth and fifth with times of 36:21 and 36:33, which were 38th and 39th overall, respectively.

But on a beautiful day when Truman Smith led everyone in the singing of the National Anthem before the race began, this one belonged to the younger generation.

“This is fun stuff,” Gilpin said shortly after finishing a tough run.

“I just wanted to see if I could get close to that 25:04 (the course record), but Minnekahdah was as tall as always.  I didn’t feel so good when I got to the top, but I was feeling better about halfway down.

“I was just under five minutes at the first mile and figured if I could get somewhere near 25:30 that I’d be okay,” he added.

While Gilpin will be starting PT school in the fall, the 24-year-old Stocks is just a year from completing the same.  She has plans to run the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta on July 4th and she’s pointing toward the Marine Corps Marathon in October, so this was just another step in that process.

“I’ve been doing workouts on this course for the past few weeks and the preparation made it seem easier.  I’m really pleased with my effort today,” she said after averaging 5:52 for the distance.

“My goal was to not let anyone pass me on the downhill, but one guy did.  I might should have gone out a little harder, but it was a great run and I’m happy,” Stocks, who was the Chickamauga Chase 5K winner in 18:23, concluded.

“This is as close as I’ll be to him the rest of the race,” Phillips said he stood side-by-side with Gilpin before the race began.

“I was chasing him the whole way and I was hoping to break 26 minutes.  I got caught in no-man’s land as there wasn’t anyone close in front or in back for more than the last three miles.

“I can’t run downhill very fast and I’m happy that Minnekahdah didn’t take as much out of me as I thought, but I was glad when it finally ended.  I think my time was 26:06 two years ago, so if I can stay close to times past, I’m happy,” the 43-year-old Red Bank Middle School teacher and coach smiled.

McGinness is a 22-year-old McCallie graduate who is six hours away from a finance and history degree at the University of Georgia.  He finished as the runner-up at the King of the Mountain four-miler on Lookout Mountain a couple of weeks ago.

“I had run this course once with Alan Outlaw and I kept thinking I was at the top of the biggest hill, but it just kept going and going with all of those switchbacks,” the fastest grandson of the late, great Joe McGinness said later.

“I put a nice gap on Alan going up, but he almost caught me on the way down.  He was on my tail the whole way back.  My goal was to be tough going up the hill,” he nodded.

Janet Felton and Debbie Gates, both former female winners on this race, were there and took part on Sunday, although their times weren’t nearly as fast as they were “back in the day.”

The 58-year-old Gates, who won in ’84, ’87 and ’88 with a best of 30:40 in 1984, finished 79th in 42:03.  Felton was victorious in 1986 with a 32:13 while Sunday’s time of 43:02 yielded 86th overall.

“That hurt, but I’ll take a 42  as it’s been more than 10 years since I ran this course.  It’s a whole lot different when you’re not racing.  I even got beat by a pregnant lady, but that was okay too,” Gates expressed.

“The hills were tough, but I haven’t been doing too many lately and it showed.  I can’t remember which year it was that I won.  I just know it was before the kids were born and don’t have a clue what my time was,” Felton smiled.

Joseph Goetz won the one-mile race for the third straight year as he sprinted to the finish line in 4:45.

“That was a lot of fun, but I was hoping for a 4:43, which is the state record of 32-year-old males,” he explained after catching his breath.

“John (Gilpin) paced me for the first half-mile and I had a good strong finish.  I was on a boat all day yesterday carbo loading for this race, so maybe that’s why I wasn’t faster,” Goetz laughed.

Nathan Wanuch and Jessica Marlier were the defending champions and neither ran on Sunday.  Marlier was present and said that her legs were tired, but she’s getting ready to leave for a summer in Vermont.

Joey Howe, another former winner of this race, was also present but did not run.

Smith did an admirable job of singing the National Anthem.  Most folks don’t realize how tough that song is to sing, especially as a solo, but the 68-year-old TVA engineer handled it like he’d done it before. 

Then he went out and posted a time of 47:05, which was first in his age group.  What he probably doesn’t want people to know is that there were no other competitors in that class.

The next race on the Chattanooga Track Club schedule will be the Market Street Mile on Saturday, June 20.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)

Jennifer Stocks
Jennifer Stocks
photo by M.A. Locke
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