KTC Gearing Up For 19th Annual Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon – Jason Altman, Director

As 2022 wraps up and 2023 begins, the days until the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon quickly approach. Folks who plan to do the full marathon should be training by now. We started our Saturday group runs December 3rd and have had a great turnout thus far. Sponsored by Eddie’s Health Shoppe, Eddie’s Health Shoppe Downtown, and ZenEvo Chocolate, the group training runs are offered at no charge to participants who attend. We provide water on the course along with post-run refreshments and snacks. Our half marathon trainees will join us starting on January 7th. For a listing of dates and locations where we will meet in the new year, visit knoxvillemarathon.com.

With New Year’s Resolutions kicking in, many area companies will look to encourage employees to participate in the Fittest Company Challenge to get healthy. This year’s Challenge is an opportunity for friendly competition among area businesses during all the marathon events. For each employee who finishes a race, the company will receive 1 point per mile finished. (26.2 points for the marathon, 13.1 points for the half marathon, etc.). For those interested, we can provide free informational video session for area human resource representatives and wellness representatives to learn about the Challenge and receive ideas on how to promote and recruit their employees to participate in the CHKM and its events. If you or someone from your company is interested, please contact me for more information.

Come February 4th, our annual Covenant Kids Run “Marathon” program will kickoff at Zoo Knoxville. Registration will open at 10 am and the run/walk will start at 12 pm. Children 8th grade and younger can participate in the Covenant Kids Run. Admission to the zoo is free for each child who registers and one accompanying guest. All other admissions are half-price. The registration fee is $20 and this also covers the child’s registration for the official Covenant Kids Run on April 1st. By participating, kids can run a “marathon”. Each child receives a mileage log to start tracking his or her miles and exercise between the Zoo run and the official CKR on April 1st. Kids can finish the last mile of the marathon at the World’s Fair Park Finish Line – just like the adults!

We are excited to announce that we are offering $5,600 in prize money to area schools through our 2023 Fittest School Challenge. We are offering this incentive to area schools in nine counties. (Anderson, Blount, Hamblen, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Roane, Sevier, and Union). Winning schools are based upon the highest percentage of student population participating in the April 1st Covenant Kids Run. (Fast or slow, all kids count the same in the challenge. We are encouraging participation!) To be counted toward their school’s total, a child needs to participate in the April 1st Covenant Kids Run and identify their school during registration. Prize money and plaques will be awarded to the winning schools after the race. Back this year, we will have two categories for the schools. Schools with more than 300 students enrolled will compete in the large category; the schools with 300 or less students will compete in the small division.

Registration numbers for our 19th CHKM are going strong! After our price increase on December 1, we are on pace for a fantastic turnout in 2023.

Looking to volunteer? I am still in need of some key volunteers to serve on the 2023 Marathon Organizing Committee. If interested, please email knoxvillemarathon@gmail.com for more information. Happy New Year!