On Monday, which was also Memorial Day, I took part in the Chattanooga Chase, a roughly 5-mile/8K race through the hills of Riverview.
Although both my age and waistline size are a few numbers above those of the typically serious runner, I still gave it the old college try and crossed the finish line in just over 58 minutes. For the record, I finished 438th out of 513 runners.
This is the third time I have competed in that race over the last four years, with last year’s event canceled of course due to the pandemic, and I am positive Minnekahda Hill has become a little steeper each year. Someone needs to check with the steep slope police monitoring local hillside construction there! Just kidding!
Being 61 and not a natural long-distance runner, I simply focus on completing instead of competing these days and was almost as excited crossing the finish line as 34-year-old winner Brandon Hudgins likely was when he reached it 34 minutes earlier.
After the pandemic and after breaking my upper right arm in December – which I unfortunately cannot blame for my slow pace – I was just happy to be out there on such a special holiday doing a normal activity again as a vaccinated person and running into a few old friends.
It is also a neat race in that you get a great tour of all the beautiful homes of Riverview down all the side streets, a jaunt you cannot duplicate in an automobile without appearing to be nosy.
I have also enjoyed running in the Missionary Ridge Road Race as well in August due to the pretty views of historic homes and the valley below, even though it is also longer than average and does have a public sidewalk the whole way down South Crest Road.
I first fell in love with the homes of Riverview back in the 1980s while working at the Chattanooga Golf and Country Club and later jogging through the neighborhood regularly for a period. I cannot believe how the neighborhood has changed since then, as many of the homes have been enlarged or significantly remodeled or even razed, although it was nice to see a few of the old ones of varying sizes still as they always were, at least from the outside.
At least one home, the mid-century home built by the Card family on Edgewood Circle, is having a tasteful expansion done by using the same style and shade of thin brick originally used.
After hearing about the low inventory of homes in Chattanooga and many other parts of the country, I was surprised to see three or four homes or cleared lots for sale, and one classic and large home scheduled to be available via an auction.
Of course, I looked at all these homes and signs in almost a blur while simply trying to make it back to the finish line.
I have also continued to see the pretty landscape of East Tennessee while buzzing by in my automobile on Interstate 75 traveling back and forth from Knoxville during the last school year. Although I am probably the only one who remembers this, I have written an update nearly every year around Memorial Day about my life after my wife, Laura, and I moved back here in late May 2017 from Knoxville.
I have felt blessed in that I have continued to get opportunities to teach some adjunct introductory journalism writing classes at UT-Knoxville while also writing on a freelance basis for a publication that is part of the Knoxville News Sentinel.
As a result, I still travel up to Knoxville twice a week when school is in session and maybe every two or three weeks during the rest of the year. My 2017 Honda Accord probably gets as much wear and tear on I-75 as my legs did on Monday on the roads of Riverview.
With the pandemic, it was a little challenging the last year. We had to wear masks, and several of my students last fall tested positive when outbreaks were occurring on college campuses everywhere. I was fortunate I was able to avoid catching everything but Big Orange Fever.
The courageous students certainly paid an unfortunate price, including by not getting to socialize like normal for the most part or enjoy all the fun that is supposed to be such a big part of college.
We also had hybrid classes, in which about 10 students would come in person one day a week, while the other 10 would join at least for the start via Zoom. And then during the other day of the week, the students’ roles would reverse.
I knew multi-tasking was not my forte, and this setup of trying to communicate with students via Zoom and in person at the same time removed any lingering doubt. But it all worked out, and I was thankful each student was there at least one day a week, and I was able to try and encourage them in person, which is more in my style.
But what I might most remember about the last school year and the trips back and forth from Knoxville was attempting to eat in my car, since for the most part I had to go through the drive through and could not dine-in, other than on an occasional outdoor patio.
While I felt I did pretty good at mastering some complex skills – like being able to eat Wendy’s chili while driving – I was not perfect. Invariably, one bean or French fry would fall into some crack between seats while I was eating, and I could not retrieve it.
Needless to say, my car would have probably failed a health department inspection report for cleanliness and food being left out.
And if a food item did not land in some hard to find and see spot in the car, it would fall on my clothes. On one occasion, some ketchup I put on my Krystal cheeseburgers ended up landing on my shirt in three or four places and leaving red marks, making me look like I had gotten in a fight with Dracula.
But I survived it all and still enjoyed the rewards of teaching and working on some stories in my former hometown of Knoxville.
Who knows how long it might eventually last due to the life of a freelance contract worker, but I have not run out of enthusiasm yet for the 100-mile trips back and forth from these two East Tennessee cities I love.
And come to think of it, I might be ready as well for another 5-mile trip around the steep hills of Riverview next Memorial Day.
After all, the soreness in my legs should be gone within about a month!
Jcshearer2@comcast.net