Wisdom and joy to guide you.

Emily Noble has been running and helping to create marathons since 2005. She is a past president of the Athens Road Runners Board and is the Director of the Athens Road Runners Racing Team. She served on the Twin Cities Marathon Association from 2012-2014, and she has been one of our Classic City Marathon Association directors since our inaugural 2024 races. She is our dreamer and our visionary, and she is determined to create the best possible Classic City Marathon, Half Marathon, and Marathon Relay Weekend for everyone!

Carole Black has been the owner of Classic Race Services for almost 15 years. She and her company provide exceptional race management and finish line services, making sure every detail is in place from the earliest stages of race planning through the last minutes of the last participant’s race. She is also involved in coordinating all the bands, DJs, and other entertainment for along our course and throughout race day! Carole welcomes you to the Classic City and says, as always, "Have a good race, and have a safe race!”

Dustin and Catherine Shinholser own our two local Fleet Feet Athens-Oconee stores and love being involved in the incredible Athens-area running community. Between them, they have raced every distance there is to race (with and without the running stroller!). They have previously directed many races and managed many race expos and related events, including our amazing previous Classic City Expos and post-race celebrations. For 2027, they are leading the team that will bring our new Marathon Festival to life!

James Barlament is a Southeast Georgia native who has lived and run in Athens for 25 years. He leads our Course Committee and serves as the Race-Day Captain for the (full) marathon. We love the courses he has designed!

Will Hodges has been an active member of Athens Road Runners since its inception in 2013. He coordinates our search for new sponsorships, manages sponsor relations, and serves as the Race-Day Captain for the Half Marathon.

Glen Anderson describes himself with a grin as a middling long-distance runner and as an expert at socializing after a run! He manages all the details for our marathon relay and serves as the Race-Day Captain for the relay.

Mike Greenlee coordinates everything about our water stops, from selecting the perfect locations to arranging the early-morning delivery of tables, cups, and all the water, PowerAde, and GU for race day!

Greg Waddell shared his expertise as a pacer for MarathonPacing.com for over 10 years, and he is now focused on pacers for the Classic City Marathon and Half Marathon. His amazing teams of pacers will help you every step of your race!

Al Jeffers is a USATF-certified and RRCA-certified running coach who has worked with the Athens Road Runners racing teams and other Athens Road Runners members since 2013. He designed our Classic City Marathon and Half Marathon training plans and continues to share his expertise with runners.

Katie Goreham organizes our free Saturday long runs in Athens for all three race distances! Come train with us — or connect with Katie if you’d like to organize long runs for a group wherever you are.

Lisa Patton is a personal trainer and running coach at Transfit Athens. She puts all her skills and connections to good use organizing the hundreds of volunteers who help us create the best race weekend ever!

Alexa Hoppenfeld has been a runner and a cyclist for over 15 years. She is helping our Volunteers Coordinator with the enormous task of finding, training, and supporting the hundreds of volunteers who are necessary for any large race.

Rachel Irwin is a former cheerleader and an accomplished marathon runner, so she knows a lot about both cheering and running! Email her if your family, business, team, or other group would like to host a cheer zone at the Classic City Marathon!

Hazel Allen is a member of the Athens Road Runners Board and always runs with a smile! Email her if your family, business, team, or other group would like to host a cheer zone at the Classic City Marathon!

Troy Aubrey has managed, promoted, and scheduled bands and other performers for decades, including through Aubrey Entertainment. He is working with our Race Director again this year to arrange another amazing line-up of local bands and DJs for our race weekend.

Monica Huff is a long-time Athens runner and was the fourth woman ever to run a Boston Qualifying marathon time in every state plus DC! As lead for our Charity Partners efforts, Monica focuses on connecting our Association with community partners who can use our support.

Tammy Gilland is a marathon runner, a huge UGA Bulldogs fan, and the executive director of philanthropy at our Presenting Sponsor Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital. As our liaison to Piedmont, Tammy shares her organizational skills and her community connections all year.

Can you help? We are seeking an Association member with connections to the Greek Life community at the University of Georgia.

Kevin Burke connects us to the Clarke County School District for our student medal designers and connects us to the professional artists in Athens who create our posters. His extensive experience as a marathoner also helps him create unique awards each year that will not threaten your student-athlete or amateur status, we promise!

Reese Walker holds an art degree from the University of Georgia, runs with unbridled joy, and races with enthusiastic abandon. Reese is co-director of the T-shirt design committee, with his partner in fashion Chrissy Proctor.

Chrissy Proctor grew up running on country roads and ran track and cross country in high school. She has run at least 20 marathons, including 7 Boston Marathons. And she is focusing all her expertise onto making sure we have the best race shirt and best other race merchandise ever!

Can you help? We need a new Association member this year who can focus on race signage for us.

Susan Adams has been running since 1979 and is a wise and important part of the ARR running community. She works on our Sustainability Team, to keep us focused on sustainability all year and to ensure our races are Zero Waste events again!

Denise Horton was one of the founding members of Athens Road Runners and takes special pride in having been one of Coach Al’s first team members. She works on our Sustainability Team, to keep us focused all year and to ensure our races are Zero Waste events again!

Michael Marshall raced Division III track and cross-country in college, took a hiatus from running in his 30s and 40s, and has now returned to the sport with a bit of life experience behind him. As our Secretary, Michael keeps our Association’s written records complete, organized, and in top shape!

Dennis Revell is a long time runner and board member of the Athens Road Runners. As our finance manager, Dennis keeps us strictly in compliance with every financial requirement we must meet as a 503(c) nonprofit and as the steward of our sponsors’ and donors’ generosity.

Anne Marcotte runs distinctly more slowly these days, and she sticks to the half marathon distance now, but she still loves being on the road! She coordinates communications and marketing for the Classic City Marathon, including writing, publicity, and the website.

Will Bramlett is a Senior Designer at The Adsmith, where he works on a range of branding, design, and marketing projects. He is a member of the Athens Road Runners and is often seen logging miles near downtown or walking the family dog, Ginger. Will is sharing his expertise with the Classic City Marathon as our branding and graphic design expert.

A former college athlete, Emily Cameron now seeks to blur the line between sports photography and art. She and her team take amazing photos for our races, and we could not be more excited to have them back! (We pay Emily and her team, so you do not have to pay for your race photos. See more of her work at Cameron Creative.)

Dr. Devon Carr is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Sports Medicine, with specialties in musculoskeletal ultrasound and sports-related injury management. He has supported numerous athletic events, served as one of our Medical Co-Directors for 2026, and is our Medical Director for 2027. Dr. Carr and his entire team are committed to ensuring all Classic City Marathon participants receive high-quality, attentive medical support.

Allie Tilley is an Athletic Trainer at Piedmont Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, and she also provides medical coverage at Westminster High School and for local sporting events. She helps our Medical Director organize all the volunteers, supplies, and other full-year and race-day preparations that any big race needs.

Dr. Joe Colasurdo is a board-certified foot and ankle surgeon and the founder of 26 Foot & Ankle in Watkinsville. He also has extensive health-related marathon logistics expertise. Dr. Colasurdo served as our Medical Director for our first two years, served as our Lead Medical Co-Director for 2026, built our medical team’s systems, and is continuing to provide assistance to our current medical team.

Dr. Carla Erb has expertise in pulmonary and critical care medicine, with particular focus on preventive strategies. She is an avid runner and hiker herself, and she is proud to share her skills and abilities with the Classic City Marathon medical team.

Scotty Diesch is a Health and PE teacher who has loved distance running since high school. And he knows what it takes to clean up after a few thousand runners! He and his committed team make sure the Classic City Marathon leaves the streets of Athens even better than we found them. (Can you help?)