We are excited to announce an updated route for the 2017 Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee. We received some great feedback from athletes and the community after the inaugural event and went to work making a few minor changes to improve the overall athlete experience, alleviate a few traffic issues, take advantage of the new (and gorgeous) Riverwalk section, and get around some construction that will be coming up. Our goal with this route was to certify a course that could be used for years to come!

*Note the half marathon course stays the same with the exception of moving the start a few feet and stretching out the turn around point a few feet as well

I will try and explain the changes, some minor, some a little more drastic! The start line has moved about 30 feet to the south and will now be at the intersection of 5^th and Broad. The first real change comes in St. Elmo. Athletes will now stay on Tennessee Ave down to 52^nd, take 52^nd to Virginia Ave, do a quick out and back on Virginia and then take Virginia all the way back to St Elmo Ave. The next change is leaving St Elmo, we will now take 37^th to Tennessee to Broad to avoid a large construction project that is coming in that area. From there, we will take Broad St to 33^rd, then a quick right on St Elmo Ave to hop on the new Riverwalk section. We think athletes are going to love this stretch along the river. The next change is on the North Shore, where we will be taking Riverview Rd instead of Falmouth. The final change, comes on the far east portion of the course. After working with CDOT and the CPD, we decided we needed to avoid going north of Bailey Ave to help alleviate some traffic issues. The cool part is that we now get to spend some more time in the Highland Park neighborhood which welcomed the event with open arms last year. Participants will now run down Bailey Ave to Willow, around the Highland Park Soccer Complex, and then return on Kirby to Highland Park Ave.

We are excited about these changes and feel that this route will once again highlight the unique and beautiful areas of Chattanooga. Discussions and ideas for neighborhood activations are already taking place and we have a few other things in the works for you.

Thanks for supporting this community event. Don’t forget to check out the website for the latest happenings, training schedules, and event info. If we can do anything for you, please email us at info@chattanoogamarathon.com and we will do whatever we can to help!

On behalf of the entire Erlanger Chattanooga Marathon team, we look forward to seeing you at the finish line in a few months!

Updated Course: Full Marathon

Brian Myrick