Sweet Times in Sweetwater

Author: Stephanie Bailey

2022 has seen a return to a more normal race schedule, thus Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon also returned to the spring this year. While we’re thrilled to get back to normal, it meant we had to move the Sweetwater event. We opted to return to the picturesque, quaint small town in the fall this year, and we dropped the full marathon. In addition, we partnered with the local Kiwanians Club, and incorporated their established Rocky Top Run 5k with our event.

With Hurricane Ian nearing land as we approached our October 1 race date, many of us had flashbacks to the 2021 spring event where we started the morning with lightning and heavy downpours. We were not looking forward to a repeat of the monsoon race for 2022. However, whatever was thrown at us, we got this! Come race morning, we were met with clear skies and crisp fall temperatures.

Fifty-four 5k runners and 95 half/relay runners toed the starting line at the gazebo on Main Street. The courses highlighted the historic neighborhood, iconic Sweetwater High School, Willow Creek Subdivision, scenic farmland, Christiansburg neighborhood, and downtown Sweetwater.

Top honors for the half marathon went to David Johnson of the ZenEvo/Long Run team, who covered the 13.1 miles in 1:14:47 and Lauren Roth (of Team Runners Market, who ran a solid 1:28:10. 5k winners were David Santoski (19:13) and Jennifer McKelvey (24:08).

As usual, races like this are only possible because of our volunteers. We owe a big thank you to the individuals and the groups that came out and helped. A special shout out to the Sweetwater Elementary Cross Country Team and the Bearden Dance Team for coming out and covering a lot of our needs.

A huge thank you to the City of Sweetwater, the Sweetwater Police Department, Sweetwater Parks and Rec, and Sweetwater Roads department. The city as a whole is always very welcoming and accommodating.

We would like to thank our sponsors: Noverhed, Inc., Pilot, Phillips Constructions Company, Oldies 98.3, Peoples Bank of East Tennessee, Jinks Concrete Contractors, Inc., Runners Market, A&S Auto Body and Towing, Volunteer Federal, Sweetwater Valley Collision, Sweetwater Hospital Association, KOA Sweetwater, Fairweather Financial, FMT Insurance, Capstar Bank, Archer’s Total Home Healthcare, Warren Jackson, John M. Fox DDS, Sweetwater Insurance Agency, Dinner Bell, Foster Family Eyecare, Gruenefelder Chiropractic, Attorney Charles Ridenour, Swann Rentals, East Tennessee Livestock, Fat Hats Grill, Paramount Insurance, NGK Metals, Monroe County Animal Clinic, and Sweetwater Utilities.