Gilpin, Vradenburgh Win First Scenic City Scorcher

Saturday was a good day to be at the starting line for the initial running of the Scenic City Scorcher if you were wanting to put your name in the Tennessee state record book for two miles.

The race, which started near Coolidge Park and ran through Heritage Landing before returning to the finish, was held under muggy conditions, but that didn’t keep a bunch of folks from putting their best foot forward and 63 were rewarded with record-breaking performances.

With 92 total finishers, that means an incredible 68 percent of the field either established or set a new state record for the two-mile distance.

Overall winner John Gilpin finished with a blistering time of 9:51.7 and is now the record holder for 23-year-old males as there were no entries prior to Saturday.

The stakes were just a little bit higher for the UTC track and cross country standout as he now has the overall record for the state, erasing Jason Altman’s time of 10:13, which was set in Knoxville on April 13, 2014.

While Gilpin was all alone  as he breezed to the overall win, the real race was for second place as Joseph Goetz passed Jack McGinness in the final 100 yards to claim that spot with a time of 10:10.2 while McGinness was a few steps back in 10:12.7.

Franklin’s Ryan Chastain was fourth in 10:35 while Alan Outlaw was fifth in 10:43.

Kathryn Vradenburgh was the women’s winner as the slender 14-year-old blonde finished 21^st overall in 12:11.  Jennifer Curtis was the second female and 28^th overall in 12:44 while Taylor Warren was third in 13:26.

Lisa Logan and Hannah Faudi completed the top five females with times of 13:53 and 14:11, respectively.

Nine of those 10 set records with Warren being the only one who didn’t as she’s 14 like Vradenburgh.

“That was the first time in a long time that I’ve done a two-mile race,” said Gilpin, who will serve as a volunteer assistant coach for Bill Gautier this fall as he enters physical therapy school at UTC.

“I really wanted that overall record and that’s what I was shooting for, but it was okay.  I relaxed and slowed down a little bit after the first mile (4:50) as I was feeling the heat, but it was fun,” the Nashville native added with a smile.

Goetz has developed a reputation for a strong kick at the end and that’s what saved the day for the 32-year-old TVA employee.

“It wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t great,” Goetz said shortly after finishing the early-morning run.

“I went out really hard and was still way behind, but I finished strong.  I knew if I could get close at the end that I would have a shot.  I was just good enough,” he nodded.

McGinness is a 22-year-old senior at the University of Georgia who will graduate in December.  He is a fine runner and is normally right up front, but he couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Goetz as they came around the bend by the GPS tennis courts.

“That was tough as I’m not used to running a distance that short,” he expressed.

“Joseph pushed me at the end as I could hear him coming.  I think I’ve run that fast in workouts, but I’m not sure about a race,” he said before doing a few more cool-down miles.

Vradenburgh was more concerned about breaking her own personal record of 12:14 as the state record was a turtle-like 38:33.

“It was a great run as I felt awesome the whole way,” she began.

“I was just hoping to break 12:14 so I’m really happy,” she said, admitting that she’s doing about 32 miles a week training for the upcoming cross country season.

Curtis also set a record for 33-year-old females as her time was more than a minute and a half faster than the previous record of 14:16.

“I didn’t feel very good as I started too fast.  I wish I had more energy at the end as I didn’t finish strong, but I did the best I could.  I think my body sort of gave up in the second half, so I’ll have to work on my finishing kick,” she smiled.

Another runner who broke a record was 29-year-old Skye Webb, who is a chemistry lab tech at Chattanooga State while she attends graduate school at UTC with a major in Environmental Science.

The old mark was just 41:28.  She knew she wouldn’t have any trouble breaking that standard, but she ended up running about six minutes faster than she had planned.

“I was hoping to be around 25, but I was able to get under 19,” she said after finishing with a fine time of 18:56.

“I don’t know how long that record will last, but it’s nice for now.  There was a nice breeze coming off the river and there were a lot of people cheering on the side of the road.  I almost stopped at their pool, but I was focused on breaking this record,” she concluded with a laugh.

Truman Smith was another record breaker as he finished third in the 60-69 age group with a time of 17:19.  There was no previous record for 68-year-old men, but he wasn’t celebrating too early.

“I’m not jumping up and down just yet, but I’m pleased,” the retired TVA engineer said while chomping on a post-race snack.

“I think I need to do some speedwork.  All of my marathon times indicate that I don’t, but I’m sure it would help,” he added, noting that he ran a midnight marathon last Saturday in Livingston and is planning another 26.2-mile race in Cookeville next Saturday.

He now has 128 marathon finishes and is planning to run one in Iceland on Aug.

22.

Stacey Malecky served as the race director for this first-time event and she was more than pleased with the way things turned out.

“This is one of the flattest and most scenic courses around, so it was really a runner’s race.  Everything went really smooth and we really appreciate the folks at Heritage Landing allowing us to run through their community,” she said right before the awards ceremony began.

Of those 63 records that were broken, 27 were set by females and 36 by males.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)