The Kerry Trammell Memorial 5k Run and Walk will start at 8 a.m. May 4 at the Oak Ridge Marina.
Proceeds of this year’s race will go toward the purchase and installation of emergency mile markers on the Melton Lake Greenway. The mile markers will be placed every .10 miles and coordinated with 911, and Trammell’s name will be placed on each.
The course starts on the Oak Ridge Marina peninsula and runs on Melton Lake Drive and along the water on the Melton Lake Greenway. [Read more…]
Five hundred thirty-six runners start in the Secret City Half Marathon on Briarcliff Avenue on Sunday morning.
A Florida man finished first in the Secret City Half Marathon on Sunday morning, crossing the finish line almost eight minutes ahead of the second-place runner.
Jason McLeod, 21, of Orlando, Fla., finished the 13.1-mile course in 1:11:53. It was his first half marathon.
McLeod has never competed in a full marathon either, but he did run cross country for four years at Bryan College in Dayton, Tenn.
Gina Rouse, 34, of Knoxville finished second with a time of 1:19:50. She was also the top female runner among the 536 athletes who started Sunday. She has competed in marathons, including the Nashville Marathon in 2006 and Atlanta Marathon in 2011. [Read more…]
The course map for the Secret City Half Marathon is pictured above.
Some traffic lanes and roads will be closed, and several main roads and intersections will be affected by the Secret City Half Marathon road races next weekend, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, officials said Thursday.
About 800 runners are expected to race on the streets and greenways of Oak Ridge during these family-friendly athletic events, the City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a press release Thursday.
“Motorists should be aware of runners and walkers in the race areas and try to avoid these roads and find alternate routes if possible,” the release said.
The first-ever Secret City 5k and 10k races will be held Saturday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 a.m. The Oak Ridge Police Department will shut down portions of the race course during the affected time periods. Both races start and finish on Badger Avenue near Oak Ridge Associated Universities and continue along the following route through central Oak Ridge: [Read more…]
The American Cancer Society Catch the Leprechaun 5K starts at 8 a.m. Saturday at the Oak Ridge waterfront.
It is an Irish-themed 5k, and participants are encouraged come adorned in green, a press release said. It’s a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society.
The course will follow Melton Lake Drive and Melton Lake greenway. One lane of Melton Lake Drive will be closed from 8-8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.
The pedestrian crossing at Melton Lake Drive and Emory Valley Road. (Submitted image)
The subject of this article is safety awareness for pedestrians and drivers at the crosswalk near the intersection of Melton Lake Greenway and Emory Valley Road Greenway (pictured at left), which I have dubbed the “Death Zone.â€
To establish some credibility on the subject, I’ll note that I’ve been running competitively for 34 years, running nearly 75,000 miles, placing in all race distances and age categories. I’m also a board member of the Oak Ridge Track Club, an organization dedicated to promoting fitness through safe running and road racing in the Oak Ridge community.
Running as much as I do, and traveling as much as I do, I find myself at the subject intersection almost daily, as well as many other intersections throughout Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and the United States in general. With this running experience, I am keenly aware of the importance of running safely, and I advocate safety while running above all other interests. After all, if I don’t get home alive, my run wasn’t very successful at improving my health, right? Although an experienced runner, I have no legal experience, so I speak only as an educated layman on the legal aspects of Tennessee pedestrian law.
With regard to the “Death Zone,†a few weeks ago I came the closest to being killed by a vehicle while running than ever before—that is, other than the deliberate attempts by drivers to kill me while I’m running, which could easily be the subject of my first book. This near-death experience occurred because of three key factors, some of which are unique to this crosswalk, while others are universally applicable:
The area where a Clinton woman appears to have slid off snowy, icy Melton Lake Drive into the Clinch River on Saturday morning.
A Clinton woman escaped injury when her car slid off snowy, icy Melton Lake Drive into the Clinch River on Saturday morning, but her 2002 Nissan Pathfinder remains underwater, possibly to be pulled out of the lake later, authorities said.
Debby Hillman, 55, of Clinton was southbound on Melton Lake Drive just after 11 a.m. Saturday when she lost control of her vehicle as she tried to slow down in a curve, shifting down into second gear, an Oak Ridge Police Department crash report said. Her Pathfinder slid across the northbound lane of Melton Lake Drive and into the river north of Emory Valley Road and Melton Lake Park.
A map showing the location of today's greenway dedication ceremony.
Oak Ridge and Tennessee officials will have a dedication ceremony for Melton Lake Greenway IV at 2 p.m. today.
The event will be held in the new parking lot on Edgemoor Road at the end of the new greenway. The special guest will be Tennessee Department of Transportation Regional Director Steve Borden.
