Community Contribution Program

Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon announces Community Partners to benefit from 2025 races

Organizers of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon have selected Girls on the Run Greater Knoxville as one of the 2025 Community Partners, joining Covenant Health’s Patricia Neal Innovative Recreation Cooperative (IRC), an established beneficiary of the community event.
Proceeds from the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon will be donated to the nonprofits, which promote active lifestyles and empower participants.

Prior to and throughout the 2025 races, the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon and Girls on the Run Greater Knoxville will team up to help kids recognize their inner strength, increase their level of physical activity and realize their potential. Patricia Neal IRC participants and volunteers also will be part of race weekend, advancing disability education and awareness.

“Girls on the Run provides fun, evidence-based programs to inspire girls, and we are excited to support their important initiatives through the 2025 races,” said Jason Altman, race director of the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon. “In partnership with Girls on the Run and the Patricia Neal IRC, we look forward to helping people of all ages and abilities set goals and develop
lifelong habits for physical, mental and emotional health.”

“Girls on the Run creates a safe and welcoming environment where participants can discover their spark and take it far beyond the finish line,” said Brittany Ivey, vice president of the board of directors for Girls on the Run Greater Knoxville. “We’re excited about joining forces with a community event that encourages people from all walks of life to achieve goals and improve
quality of life through better health.”

Independent studies show that worldwide, 97% of Girls on the Run participants learned critical life skills including resolving conflict, helping others and making intentional decisions. Girls on the Run Greater Knoxville serves Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon and Sevier counties in Tennessee.

“As a dad, I understand the importance of raising kids who are not only physically healthy, but also compassionate, confident and with a desire to make the world a better place,” Altman said. “The marathon’s partnership with Girls on the Run Greater Knoxville can be a ‘start line’ for changing many young lives.”

The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon and the Knoxville Track Club have a long-standing history of reinvesting in the community. From 2005 – 2024, $200,000 has been contributed to support projects such as mile markers for local city and county greenways, land acquisition and building trails in South Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness, and a golf cart to patrol and clean the greenways. Past recipients include Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley, East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, Legacy Parks Foundation, Young-Williams Animal Center, Ijams Nature Center, YWCA of Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley, Knox County Schools, The Muse Knoxville, Knoxville Family Justice Center, Survivor Fitness Foundation, Tennessee Beauty Hunters, Emerald Youth Foundation, and Keep Knoxville Beautiful. An additional $54,000 has been given to the Patricia Neal Rehabilitation Center Innovative Recreation Cooperative, which encourages people with disabilities to pursue leisure and sports activities including hand cycling, which is one of the races in the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon.

Knoxville Track Club, Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon, Donate $15,000 to Community Partners

On Monday, August 5, 2024, race director Jason Altman presented a check for $10,000 to 2023-2024 selected partner Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley (BGCTNV). The following day, August 6, 2024, a $5,000 check was presented to the marathon’s ongoing community partner, Patricia Neal Outpatient Center’s Innovative Recreation Cooperative (IRC).

“Our partnership with the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is a tremendous opportunity to help our members experience the value and thrill of running and accomplishing great things through consistent habits of activity,” said Bart McFadden, President and CEO of BGCTNV. “The support from the event helps us further this work with more than 7,500 kids across East Tennessee.”

BGCTNV established running clubs within its participating clubs, boosting participation in the Covenant Kids Run and promoting healthier, more active lifestyles among East Tennessee’s youth.

A second check was presented to IRC, whose focus is on developing life skills through adaptive sports. The program was designed to be a part of the continuum of care in the rehabilitation process and has welcomed more than 15,000 participants and volunteers since its founding in 1994.

“It’s wonderful that the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon and Knoxville Track Club benefit the community in so many charitable ways, including support of local not-for-profit programs like the IRC,” said Al Kaye, clinical specialist in recreation therapy and IRC coordinator. “It’s a win-win event.”

IRC partners with the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon to offer handcycling and race chair divisions for athletes who aren’t able to walk or run. These participants have gone on to compete in races nationally and internationally.

“The Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon is truly a community event,” said race director Jason Altman. “It makes sense to invest our success in the community where we live, work, walk and run.”

(back row, left to right)
Eric Weatherbee, Executive Director, Knoxville Track Club
Jason Altman, Race Director, Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon
Chara Carey, Healthy Lifestyles Program Specialist, BGCTNV
Bart McFadden, President and CEO, BGCTNV

(left to right)
Eric Weatherbee, Executive Director, Knoxville Track Club
Jason Altman, Race Director, Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon
Al Kaye, Patricia Neal IRC Program Coordinator
Nicole Bummara-Kirkham, Interim Unit Coordinator
Medley Johnson, Interim Rehab Services Manager
Chip Bryant, Vice President and Chief Philanthropy Officer