Quick UPDATE 1/13/2025
Lionhearts Ranch is gorgeous in all seasons! Look at the SNOW! We could have had some great trail hikes. We were watching for flooding but the new tiles worked beautifully! The ground was wonderful.
Here is Luccketta and his little snowman.
Lionhearts Fitness Ranch: A New Chapter in Our Mission
Three years of vision, effort, and love have brought us to this exciting milestone: the Lionhearts Fitness Ranch, a 30-acre property purchased and donated by Tracy Luccketta.
Mentors Matter!
Professional athlete and Lionhearts mentor Rachel Watters donated the seed money that started it all.
Rachel is a mentor, a pro athlete, and an advisory member of Lionhearts Fitness.
In 2022 she held a fundraiser for Lionhearts. Her goal was to raise $10K for the mission.
She ran 105 miles, with over 500 obstacles, in 24 hours surpassing her goal, raising over $12K!
This achievement was in honor of her mother, Barbara Watters, who died in 2017 of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Barbara was a school guidance counselor devoted to making a difference through her love and compassion for children.
We are honored to create a memorial garden at the ranch to celebrate Barbara’s legacy and those who inspire us to continue our mission. We have already scored out the location and memory marker!
The Land and Vision
30 acres, located on the border of Catoosa and Whitfield Counties, near the outskirts of Ringgold in the Varnell area, the ranch is a 20-minute drive from Dalton and 20 minutes from our current location. The property had various flood zones. Months before we bid the county came in and laid tiles (large enough for a truck to drive through,) to route the waters. Since then, it’s beautifully dry. God prepared it just for us. It made it through the recent hurricane flooding and drained instantly.
Our plans include:
Short-term
- Memorial Garden and Mediation Park Area-A small patch near the water for rest, prayer, meditiation.
- Youth Play Dates
- Trail Hiking and Conservation Classes
- Work with the community to find the needs of local youth
Longterm
• A ranch house/community center and indoor training facility to serve as a base for programs, events, and summer camps.
• Trail Races with a new race brand Lionhearts Roar (?) We will be hosting and enjoying many of our favorite Trail/OCRrace brands, providing races year-round.
• Regular Fitness clinics, conferences, and wellness opportunities for all ages.
2025 Lionhearts will continue to operate from the Lionhearts Fitness Center at Market Place Plaza, our cherished home for the past six years.
The only outside area to train was a patch of lawn in the parking lot that they always had prepared for us.
We have longed for a space to run, since we began.
We will start our running training immediately, programs provided by the IronEdge Coaching & Racing and the Chattanooga Track Club
We will hold these at the Lionhearts Ranch property on the weekends (weather permitting.)
Growing Legacy
Here we go CHAPTER TWO
The Lionhearts journey started as a “class” and has flourished into a global community with classes, expos, camps, races, and more.
Chapter 2 of our story is already brimming with promise, and we’re excited to build this next phase together.
We encourage you to learn more, support our mission, or get involved in this transformative chapter.