Nashville Marathon Reviews

  Small town feel for a big city

By KW about 2023

Review

The expo was in a huge convention center. It was difficult to find which entrance to go to, there were no clear signs. I found some other people with running gear on and we all went to look for it together and eventually found it because we saw someone walking through with a box of equipment for the expo. The expo was very small, not much to see, do or buy. The weather for race day was extremely hot for that time of year (80s), no additional support was provided and the second half of the race was pretty brutal to get through with that weather, infrequent water and minimal/inconvenient spaces for spectators. The second half was also where we split from the half marathoners and a fair chunk of that course was not very pleasant to run through- over train tracks, by the waste management plant or something like that. The first half of the course through the city was good. The course map on the website already had you running over 26.2 miles, in the video demo it finished at 26.624 miles so they could have cut that last turnaround a little shorter. At the end after crossing the finish line they made you exit the baseball stadium by walking up the bleacher stairs after running an entire marathon, not what I wanted to be doing. And 3 weeks later the website for times and pictures still aren't working. The hotel nearby with the race discount was a nice Marriott to stay at. Overall not a great experience and I've done plenty of races. If you want to do Nashville, I'm sure the rock and roll in the springtime would be the way to go for an overall better put together race experience.

  

By jg about 2013

Review

This was my first marathon. The course was well staffed and well marked. There wasn't quite as much crowd support as I would have hoped, but it was the first time this marathon was held. The course was great in that the hills were all on the front end; although the scenery at Shelby Bottom's park got a bit repetitive.

Race Tips

The front half takes you through urban Nashville; music row; Belmont College. It was pretty and the rolling hills were great. I really pushed through the front half, but got slower on the back half which had no hills. Turns out I prefer some hills over totally flat.

Logistical Tips (Hotels, Restaurants, Parking, Discounts, etc.)

I stayed downtown and ran to the start as a warm up. It was worth it for my first race not to have to worry about where to park on the big day. At the end of the race, the results were out ASAP, which was awesome. And they did indeed give you the promised beer.