The marathon course was designed by a passionate group of local distance runners to be first and foremost, a great run course. This 26.2 mile course will provide a great experience for the first-time or experienced marathon runner by providing a safe course with plenty of well stocked aid stations, great spectator support, and an amazing finish line experience.
The Chattanooga Marathon was the 215th largest marathon in the U.S. last year and was the 265th largest in 2022.
This year 7.3% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 6.8% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the Chattanooga Marathon the 280th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in the U.S. last year and the 210th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 97.59 ranks it as the 352nd fastest marathon course in the U.S. and the 6th fastest course in Tennessee.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are within the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the Chattanooga Marathon a PR Score of 97.59. This PR Score ranks it as the 298th fastest marathon in the U.S. and the 5th fastest in Tennessee.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
Chattanooga Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 793 feet (241m) Min Elevation: 653 feet (199m)
The Expo was small as you would expect for a race this size but in a nice open air pavilion, right at the start/finish line.
There is a big caveat because the 2019 marathon I ran was rather poor weather, with light rain for the first several hours and then torrential downpour starting around 3:45 into it. I felt terrible for the runners still out on the course when it changed to extremely heavy rain, and some of the supporters along the course could be seen packing up at around 3 hours to beat the heavy rain. The number of runners seemed to be much lower than the number listed for past years, likely due to the rain. There was very limited spectator support along the course as well. Small groups in some spots, but mostly just the scattered volunteers, and otherwise all quiet along the course. For running in a city, the back half of the marathon had a large amount of solitude.
Race Tips
The course itself is mediocre. It shows some of the good of Chattanooga, but there are long stretches that are very unremarkable (industrial parks, scrap yards, neighborhoods that are largely run down and only partially revitalized, etc). I know Chattanooga has more to offer than that.
The course has several significant hills, and they say the total climb is around 1300' which is similar to what my watch said.
You run two loops for the marathon, with the 2nd loop mostly the same as the first one which is a let down.
There are a ton of new breweries and great places in Chattanooga. I visited probably far too many of them the day before the race!
Linda W.'s review of 2018 Chattanooga Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
Weather was perfect, very pretty course, great course support, nice expo, decent swag, very helpful staff. I missed the awards ceremony (I really needed a shower) and when I came back and inquired, I wandered with friends to grab some food at the expo area and the staff tracked me down to give me my award. They really went out of their way and made me feel very valued. For only about 342 marathon finishers, I felt the race did a great job of supporting us and making everyone from the first to the last finisher feel important.
Race Tips
Great course but it certainly is hilly (which I knew and wanted). Their pacers were fabulous and right on target that I saw this year. Be prepared for some steeper slopes, up and down, stay hydrated, there are some non-shady lengths along the course.
Everything is close to the finish, you can walk to the start but the buses were great and they let spectator on which was nice.
MV's review of 2017 Chattanooga Marathon.
5 /
5 Stars
Review
Excellent course, volunteers and the local population support was wonderful too. loved the route by the river, all the old factories, all the rolling hills.
Few things to change, one - there was a sign that said 40k was wrongly placed but was approximately at 39k and the 25 mile sign seemed to be correct and was about 1km away. unfortunately this gave false hope to those trying to get a faster time even though their gps devices probably said otherwise. that's about it.
Second, probably keep some supplies of ice at aid stations towards the end of the race, it was getting much warmer than earlier and i could see fellow runners needing to be cooled down.
Race Tips
Not a flat course, If you are from a flat part of the country, please train in hills.
4.3 Stars from 3 Reviews
