Knoxville Marathon 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

It’s hard to know at the end of this week whether I should continue recounting last weekend or move the focus to the upcoming weekend. I’ll go with last weekend, but I must mention that this weekend is likely the biggest of the Dogwood Arts Festival, with the Arts and Crafts Festival on Market Square and throughout Krutch Park. The artisan works are phenomenal and the food tent, in which chefs prepare dishes with wine pairings, is one of my favorite single events of the year.

Mayor Rogero, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Mayor Rogero, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

American Flag on Clinch Avenue, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

American Flag on Clinch Avenue, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Still, I must give a nod to last weekend’s Knoxville Marathon which drew several thousand people. The race has grown to include a 5K, Half-Marathon, Marathon and Marathon Relay. Urban Son-in-Law backed off to the half-marathon this year and many Urban Friends ran various other races. I think one reason for the massive crowds last weekend was the marathon, as a number of people came in from out of town or simply stayed downtown to enjoy the other events going on.

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Health and Fitness Expo, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists2, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists3, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Arm Cyclists, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

I love the fact that a fitness-based event has become so big in the city. It also works beautifully to have so many great activities downtown to greet any out-of-town visitors. There is no way someone visited the city last weekend, encountered the beautiful weather, pianos on the square, Chalk Walk, First Friday, Rhythm and Blooms and came away with anything other than a very positive impression of what is happening here. They also spent time and money in the Health and Fitness Expo on Saturday.

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Runner, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Runner, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

Knoxville Marathon Start, April 2013

The starting line and staging area always attract me. Nerves jangle about at every turn, runners giddy with excitement warm up maybe a bit too much. Proud families wish their loved ones well. The mayor spoke at this year’s opening and the national anthem makes any sporting fan’s blood reach a quick boil of anticipation. Some are there to win, others to have fun and others simply to finish. Music pounds from a PA system as it will throughout the race as live bands play for the runners.

Entertainment on Market Square, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Entertainment on Market Square, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

John D. Cable and the Empty Bottle Band, Clinch and Locust, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

John D. Cable and the Empty Bottle Band, Clinch and Locust, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

I photographed eventual winner Wojciech Kopec (2:22:15) as he left the start line (red jersey above, number 2), but missed him at the twenty-five mile mark. I did catch Edward Tabut passing the UT Conference Center, heading into the final stretch. He was about three minutes behind first place. He also nearly left the course by not turning onto Locust, but a policeman yelled, pointed and Edward corrected his course.

Second Place Runner (No. 4), Mile Tweny-five, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Second Place Runner (No. 4), Edward Tabut, Mile Tweny-five, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Third Place Runner, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Third Place Runner, Bryan Morseman, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Fourth Place Runner, Mile Twenty-Three, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Fourth Place Runner, Stewart Ellington, Mile Twenty-Three, Knoxville Marathon 2013

Fifth Place Runner, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Fifth Place Runner, Abraham Kogo, Mile Twenty-four, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

About four minutes behind him was Bryan Moresman in third and I really felt for the next two guys as I photographed them leaving Market Square. They ran within steps of each other around the twenty-four mile mark and clearly, they would battle to the finish line. In the end, while Stewart Ellington (No. 6) lead by a few yards at that point, Abraham Kogo (No. 3) would pass him in the end to win fourth place. Two seconds separated them at the finish line. You can find complete results here.

Half-Marathon Medal, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Half-Marathon Medal, Knoxville Marathon, April 2013

Others would pass through downtown on into the afternoon. In fact, Urban Son-in-Law spotted a couple going through around 4:00, well after the official times have stopped. It reminds me of Cake’s awesome song, “The Distance.” All that matters at that point is finishing. And whether anyone else knows or acknowledges the fact, you know. It has to feel good. I never made it to the complete marathon and I admire those who do.

Urban Mystery Picture #9 Winner

Regular readers might have noticed that I broke a trend by not naming this post, “Urban Mystery Picture #10.” The reason for this break from pattern is that as part of the reduction in posts over the next few weeks I’ll, of necessity, take a break from this series. For those of you who have longed for the fame and, well, fame that comes from winning the contest, do not dispair: It will return in a few weeks.

Now, to review, here are the photographs of last week’s location. First the challenge picture, then the beginner’s hint:

Our winner, Holly L’oiseau, correctly identified the location as the Bijou Theater. She said the particular color of blue in the first photograph was enough, but the windows in the second were a giveaway. Holly is our second winner from Powell, placing Powell neck and neck with the Holston Building in the battle for most winners. Holly must also be the first person I’ve ever known who had a name which includes every vowel! I love that last name. It may be soon changing, though I’m not certain, because Holly is planning her wedding in the Sunsphere! She says we are all invited. (I made that up, but it’s a good idea, don’t you think?) You can learn more about the wedding and about Holly at her two blogs: Can’t Fight the Write and Sunsphere Wedding.

Holly, ever the good citizen, picks the nose of a drowning man.

Urban Mystery Picture #9, #9, #9 (Beatles joke, sorry)

Well, I continue to be mystified by the photographs that mystify the Urban Nation and those that are simple. I figured the one I posted two weeks ago would be difficult, and Chad figured it out immediately. Of course, I posted David’s photo instead of Chad’s initially (my bad, Chad). I was certain that I was too obvious last week and someone would immediately get it – and we never had a winner. “Anonymous” guess at the corner of Haight and Ashbury and it is possible this particular window decoration could be found there, but alas, this is not San Francisco (in case any of you wondered). So, here’s the picture from last week:

Urban Mystery Picture #8

I figured it would be easy for a couple of reasons: First, what residents in the city would be cool enough to have a Grateful Dead hanging for their curtain? Old City residents, obviously. And second, I had just published a series of posts about Jackson Avenue and I figured someone would put that together. But no. It hangs in a window on the southern side of the 100 block of E. Jackson

So, still looking for that sweet spot in which the picture isn’t identified in the first twelve seconds, but after some thought and discussion is pegged by about next Wednesday, here is this week’s edition. I’m going to give you two to play with of the same place. The first one is for advanced players, so if you want to only look at the first one and see what you can do, fine. The second is, I think a little more user friendly.

Remember, to win you need to be the first to correctly identify the photograph in the comments below AND you have to e-mail me at KnoxvilleUrbanGuy@gmail.com. I’ll be in touch and we’ll talk after that. In the meantime, everybody try to avoid the heat. Good Luck!

Urban Mystery Picture #9

 Are you sure you don’t want to stop here and try to solve it with the advanced clue? OK, here goes . . .

Urban Mystery Picture #9.1

Urban Mystery Picture # 8

It seems it’s either feast or famine. I haven’t found that sweet spot, yet, where multiple people guess for days before someone finally unlocks the mystery of the urban picture of the week. Last week no one guessed and every other week someone guessed correctly with extreme speed leaving all other contestants with their mouths agape. This week was one of those.

Here was the Urban Mystery Picture:

Urban Mystery Picture #7

Our winner is our first (official) second time winner and the specter of a Holston Building domination of the contest rears its ugly head, once more. Come on people! Hit the streets and beat these guys! Can they be that much smarter than the rest of us? Oh. Right. Well, congratulations go out to Chad Boetger, who is going to have to get a different picture if he keeps winning this thing. He correctly identified the building in question as the building housing WDVX and the Knoxville Tourism Center at the corner of Gay and Summit Hill.

Chad Boetger, Serial Winner

So, still in search of that sweet spot, I’ve decided to post a picture that I took, so it won’t be as arty/cool as Shaft’s pictures (which we’ll get back to next week), but we’ll give it a spin and see what happens. Remember to win you have to be the first to post the correct answer in the comment section below and then you need to e-mail me at knoxvilleurbanguy@gmail.com. Good luck, everybody.

Urban Mystery Picture #8

Urban Mystery Picture #7

Well this week gave us a first. No one guessed the correct answer to Urban Mystery Picture #6. It was a particularly interesting brick design on the side of a building and there are so many of those around downtown it must be difficult to remember where we may have seen a particular pattern. Or do we take them for granted? As new buildings rise around the city with little or none of this turn-of-the-century flourish, we might come to appreciate them more.

So here is what baffled everyone:

Urban Mystery Picture #6

It may be that the difficulty was also increased because it may be out of the typical pathways many of us tend to routinely follow. Here’s the bigger picture and the answer:

Fraternal Order of Eagles, Across from Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

Located at Walnut and Vine, it isn’t even one of our extraordinary buildings, but the brick work is pretty cool. We’ll have to brush up on our brickwork more later. For now, we’ll leave that and return very much to the beaten path. See if you can identify the location of the photograph below. Remember, to win you have to be the first to post the correct answer in the comments below AND you have to e-mail me at KnoxvilleUrbanGuy@gmail.com. Good luck (and be brushing up on your brick-work!)

Urban Mystery Picture #7