Extra ‘Farragut’ in Town Freedom Run ’24
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Cash Coggin of Farragut, 19, crosses the finish line in second place in the 2-mile Freedom Run, clocking a time of 10.20 while sporting a bright red wig for this Independence Day event Thursday morning, July 4. - Photos by Brandon L. Jones
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Quinn DeGuira, 19, a 2023 Farragut High School graduate, crosses the finish line in first place during Town of Farragut’s annual Freedom Run with a time of 10.02 in the 2-mile run. - Photos by Brandon L. Jones
“We hold these truths to be self-evident” that Farragut churns out some genuine talent in distance running.
Farragut brothers Quinn and Nicholas DeGuira finished in first place in the 2-mile run and second place in the 1-mile run, respectively, during Town of Farragut’s annual Independence Day Freedom Run Thursday morning, July 4, before its annual parade kicked off.
The winner of last year’s 1-mile Freedom Run, Nicholas DeGuira, 16, did post a personal best time of 5:04, finishing behind professional runner Christian Noble of Boston, a Lee University graduate (Cleveland, Bradley County). Fresh off of competing in the Olympic Trials while employed by, and runs full time for, New Balance, Noble topped the charts with a time of 4:40.
Finishing with a 10:02 time, Quinn DeGuira, 19, was followed by Cash Coggin just 18 seconds behind.
The sons of parents Chad and Tonya DeGuira, the brothers have been competitive distance runners since they were kids — something their parents never intended, much less imagined — deciding to lace up their racing shoes with absolutely no provocation.
“Very proud of my two boys,” Chad DeGuira said after the races. “They started running on their own. They came home one day (from) middle school and said, ‘This is what I’m interested in doing.’ Neither me or his mother are runners, and this is all about them.”
“It was good,” Quinn DeGuira said of his win. “I had a friend who kind of helped me pace through it.
“I just found out last night that he was running it, and I was able to, like, just pace off of him, run with him and get to talk to him a little bit that first mile. And that second mile,” he added. “I just decided to take it from there. It felt good.”
It was while running eighth-grade track and field when Quinn got the itch to just keep running, and didn’t stop: he’s about to begin his sophomore year as a cross country student/athlete at Middle Tennessee State University.
“Neither of my parents, none of my family, had never ran before,” he said, “and one day I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to give track a try,’ and I gave it a try and realized I was better at it than basketball; stopped playing basketball and started doing track full time, and now I’m running over at MTSU.”
Sharing the same sentiment as his brother, Nicholas DeGuira, who’s going into his junior year at Farragut High School, said just after crossing the finish line, “I feel pretty good.” Having shaved seconds off his winning time from last year, he said he’s “improved by a lot.”
Nicholas added he wasn’t going to beat Noble (who’s roughly 11 years his senior on top of his pro status), but he was happy snagging the No. 2 slot in the books this year.
“They’ve done this one their own, and they were self-motivated, and we’re just two very proud parents,” Chad DeGuira said.
Other Farragut runners also finishing in the top 25 included Jeremy Cerha, 28, finishing 10th overall in the 2-Mile run (12:19).
