The third time was the charm for 19-year-old Isaac Pacheco
at the Chickamauga Chase.
Pacheco had finished third for the last two years in this
popular 15K race that’s been held at Chickamauga Battlefield for the past 46
years, but he was more than ready as he captured first place in the challenging
9.3-mile race with a time of 52 minutes, 36 seconds.
Hugh Enicks, who has had more than his share of success in
the park as a three-time winner of the marathon, seems to get faster as he gets
older as he finished as the runner-up in 55:57.
Mark Malecky and Jeff Gaither followed in third and fourth
with times of 57:31 and 58:34, respectively, as the top four were the only ones
to break an hour on a near-perfect morning.
Jeremy Miller completed the top five overall males with a
time of 60:19.
Jenn Stocks was the female 15K champion after finishing 10th
overall in the field that included 432 finishers with a time of one hour, two
minutes and 52 seconds, which calculates to a 6:45 pace.
Jeanette Wilson wasn’t far behind as the was 13th
in 1:04:05 to finish as the ladies runner-up while Misty Griffin was third in
1:05:22, which was 18th.
Janis Kelman and Terri Tubbs completed the top five women with times of
1:07:18 and 1:08:27, which were 24th and 29th place
overall.
Thomas Barker posted a time of 16:15 to win the overall
title in the 5K while 10-year-old Emrick Garrett was the female 5K winner in
22:25, which was 25th in the field totaling 464 finishers.
Pacheco is now a student at Dalton State who runs track and
cross country there. He was at the
University of the South on Friday for a track meet where he finished second in
the 3,000 run with a time of 9:15.
Friday’s effort didn’t seem to have much negative effect on Saturday’s
race.
“I had that track meet on Friday at Sewanee, but I came out
here today to see what I could do,” he said shortly after finishing and not
even breathing hard.
“Some of the faster runners from last year weren’t here
today and I thought I might win. I felt
pretty good the whole time as I basically took off around the third mile. It would have been nice to have some company
as I ran by myself after the 5K runners turned around.
“Last year was when I got my personal best in the low 51s,
but today was more about place than time,” he nodded.
Enicks is certainly no stranger to big-time races and
big-time results. He wasn’t the least
bit disappointed with a second-place finish.
“The young guy took off at the start, but at least it was a
college kid who beat me today,” the Red Bank ROTC commander and coach explained
afterward.
“I think I ran about two minutes faster than last year. I was hoping to have someone to work with,
but I was by myself most of the way. I
wanted a time between 55 and 56 minutes, so this is exactly what I was hoping
for. I know this course like the back of
my hand and I know where I can relax and where I need to push hard,” Enicks
added.
Malecky is a 36-year-old chemical engineer for Wacker Corporation
and the husband of the Chattanooga Track Club’s manager Stacey. He didn’t make the decision to enter until
the day before, but he too was really pleased with the results.
“I didn’t plan to run until Friday, but I ran a pretty even
pace. I just wanted to run strong and go
under an hour, so I’m really pleased.
That’s close to my PR,” the slender fellow smiled.
Stocks is a 23-year-old graduate of Berry College who is now
in the Physical Therapy program at UTC.
Saturday was her first race since she posted a 3:09 at the Snickers
Marathon in Albany, Ga.
a few weeks ago.
“It was a fun run as this was my first race since the
marathon. I did better than I thought I’d
do as my goal was something around 64 minutes.
I don’t run many 15Ks and I didn’t know the course at all. Some of those hills kind of surprised me, but
we registered to run this morning,” the former resident of Acworth, Ga. added.
Wilson is a 33-year-old registered nurse who moved to
Chattanooga in 2012 and works at Siskin.
“I like to register late in case I oversleep,” she began
with a laugh.
“It was hillier than I expected, so I started fast and
slowed down,” she added.
Jennie Gentry has been running for about five years and has
run this race several times, but she was as happy as anyone at the finish line after recording her third personal record
of the month after finishing with a time of 1:20:08, which was second in her
age group and 125th overall.
“This was a PR by at least four minutes as I had a 1:24 last
year. I just felt really good the whole
time, but one of the biggest changes I’ve made is that I just don’t walk during
the race. I do that when I’m finished,
but I’m going to run the Raccoon Mountain Trail Marathon next weekend,” the
45-year-old day spa manager smiled.
Bill Brock, the current president of the Chattanooga Track
Club, was another one with a huge smile on his face after posting a personal
best time.
“It was just an awesome race as it was a perfect day to
run. This was a PR by 25 seconds, so I’m
happy.
Barker is a Red Bank graduate who is now an assistant coach
at Tennessee Wesleyan after competing there in track and cross country. He’s been busy with his coaching
responsibility and hasn’t raced since New Year’s Eve at the Karen Lawrence Run
for St. Jude.
“I was shooting for a 16:30, so I’m really pleased with a
16:15,” he suggested.
“I thought there would be more runners here today, but it
was a good test for me as I haven’t raced in more than three months,” he
explained.
George Skonberg, who has been the race director for this
event for more almost 25 years, was honored at the awards ceremony with a
beautiful picture of Chickamauga Park and a plaque thanking him for his time
and effort for so many years.
Saturday's race also marked the 46th consecutive year that Jack McFarland was present and competed. The 79-year-old Decatur, Ga. doesn't run like he used to, but he still walked the 5K and had a huge grin on his face when he finished to a big cheer in 58:19.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net)