Run It Fast®

The 2nd annual Blister In The Sun Marathon took place this morning in Cookeville, Tennessee at Cane Creek Park.

Race Director Josh Hite, for the second year in a row, won his race. This year Hite completed the five loops with a time of 3:16:55. He bested the next closest finisher by nearly 30 minutes.

The battle for 2nd and 3rd places went down to the wire with Murfreesboro’s Chris Estes taking 2nd by 35 seconds over James Ramsey who had to settle for third.

The female winner was Jennifer Whitley who finished with a time of 4:19:42. The next two women’s finishers were Michelle Walker and Kelly Delmar.

Legendary Dallas Smith finished in 7th place with a time of 4:04:07.  Dallas’ buddy Albino Jiminez, of Spain, finished in 4:23:17. Jiminez just ran all the way across Spain back earlier this year.

12-year old Christopher Rayder finished in a shocking time of 4:08:49. Rumor is it that he ran a 3:23 at Grandfather Mountain Marathon last month.

Angela Ivory finished her 297th marathon while Texas resident Larry Macon finished his 707th career marathon.

Instead of finisher’s medals the runners received finisher’s frying pans!

Congrats to all of the finishers. Those five loops around Cane Creek Park and the elementary school in that heat can wear down the best of runners.

2011 Blister In the Sun Photos

[photos by Naresh Kumar and Chris Estes]

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Blister in the Sun marathon race director Josh Hite, a distant marathonian cousin of Monkey Trent (which might explain a lot), was conquering so many marathons at sub 3-hour blistering times that he decided to create his own marathon to challenge himself.

This would have been ok if he hadn’t decided to invite several of his closest running friends to the inaugural event. Fourteen others showed up last year to Hite’s surprise.  He had to assume his good buddy Dallas Smith would be there, but he laughed at the remaining fools as they showed up.

He knew what he had in store for them.  Five laps around Cane Creek park in 90+ degree heat. The second half of each lap, up a hill and around Cane Creek Elementary School…aka ‘the oven.’

Everyone was all smiles the first couple of laps…then lap 3, 4, and 5 (for some) happened.  There were finishers but even Hite didn’t come close to breaking three hours on his own course.

Hite had the following to say when I approached him earlier today for his advice to newbies running the 2nd edition of BITS:

I told someone today that this could be the toughest marathon when you combine physical and mental.
This is not a course which you should be concerned with its certification.
Interesting fact I found out last week:  more people die from the heat than any other weather related incident.  That includes tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding…
This is an event that will suck the liquid from your soul if you try to race it.
Welcome to “Cook”vul.
You thought Furnace Creek was hot, try Cane Creek.
Keep running; it is so hot that it will melt your soul if you stop moving your feet.
I heard that Cane creek school was holding a “bake sale” during the race.

The scary part is that the field has already doubled from last year. Thirty runners have already upped their life insurance and signed on to Blister in the Sun this year.  However, a handful of spots remain available for the race which starts on August 7, 2011 if you are up for the challenge.

For more info check out the BITS Website (HERE) or contact RD Josh Hite via email at jhite@tntech.edu

Hite won his own event last year, but several runners have signed up in hopes of knocking Hite off his microwave!

The inaugural finisher’s medal was an engraved Zippo lighter. No telling what the sadist has in store for those that might finish this year!

Cookeville Regional Medical Center is 3.9 miles from the course. The hospital can be reached at 931-646-2039.

Check back here at Run It Fast after the race for results and check our Twitter feed @runitfast for live updates as the race is taking place.

The inaugural ‘Blister In The Sun’ Marathon took place on August 8, 2010 on a very hot day in Cookeville, TN.  The race consisted of 5 hilly laps through Cane Creek Park.

The race was one by race director Josh Hite with a time of 3:32:07.

The first female to cross the line was Anoine Moore with a time of 4:04:38.

Full Results from ‘Blister’:

Name Age Gender City Time
1 Josh Hite 32 M Cookeville 3:32:07
2 Chris Estes 38 M Murfreesboro 3:43:44
3 Gary Krugger 25 M Edinboro, PA 3:54:36
4 Jeff Matlock 45 M Ashland City 3:57:21
5 Anoine Moore 43 F Pleasant View 4:04:38
6 Joshua Holmes 32 M Jackson 4:09:24
7 Dallas Smith 70 M Cookeville 4:32:11
8 Thomas Holt 33 M Cookeville 4:43:55
9 Naresh Kumar 27 M Chennai, India 5:33:46
10 Mikki Trujillo 34 F Cookeville 6:31:23
11 Angela Ivory 42 F Nashville 7:42:03
12 Diane Taylor 53 F Nashville 8:33:58
13 Bill Baker 59 M Nashville DNF
14 Trent Rosenbloom 40 M Nashville DNF

Plans are already underway for the 2011 Blister In The Sun marathon.