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Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.2 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 481 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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B. B. from Pittsburgh,Pa
(5/8/2023)
"Wonderfully Organized" (about: 2023)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I know that RNR races receive a lot of negative posts on this site. I understand that some folks don't like the for profit aspect of their races, but I find the ones that I have run to be nearly flawless in their organization and Nashville to be no exception. The only complaint that I have is that I didn't like the section at mile 17 of the full in which the halfers remerged with the marathoners which made for some confusion and congestion. Otherwise I liked it all including the hilly course. Visit Black Abbey and Tennessee Ale Works for your libation needs. | |
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Y. L. from Phoenix AZ
(4/25/2022)
"Over 1000 elevation gain" (about: 2022)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 2022 marathon is hot and humid, started at 720am 66f by noon the temperature reach close to 80, also humidity is high, really tough to run, the course is clearly marked | |
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L. B. from Saskatchewan Canada
(11/28/2021)
"This Marathon needs to be more organized." (about: 2021)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 5 This was my 37th marathon and by far the most disappointing one. Very disorganized. Somewhere on this course which I cannot figure out, runners ahead of me missed a double loop and as a result everyone followed. Missing this second loop everyone who followed only logged 23.3 miles and was disqualified. About 50 percent of the marathoners. 1400 were disqualified. About the same ratio were disqualified in the half marathon. About 6000 were disqualified. I emailed them 3 times asking for an explanation as to where were the Marshalls? After 6 days still reply. The 10 km runners started at 6:30. 50 minutes prior to the half and full marathons. WHY?? Many water stations without Gatorade. | |
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T. M. from United States
(10/11/2019)
"Very disappointed" (about: 2017)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 This was my first marathon but I've done over 50 races (mostly half's). The weather isn't anything you can control but after mile 14 or so, none of the water stations had water. The organizers shut the race down at mile 21 but we still finished 26.2. There were no spectators after the half runners turned off nor was there any entertainment. The entire second half of the marathon was in FULL sun. We even ran through a baseball field, which wasn't fun at all. It's no wonder people were passing out. I've done several RnR races before but I will not do another one. Plus, they no longer provide jackets to marathon finishers or the heavy medals for multiple races. | |
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J. E. from Manchester, VT
(7/6/2017)
"Will never run another RocknRoll marathon!!" (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 We were all warned that this year's Nashville marathon was going to be hot and I was careful to drink extra fluids and take a few walk breaks. I was feeling fine and on target to finish around 5:45 when the race was halted at mile 21 with police in the roadway and all runners were directed to walk back to the finish line area due to the heat. Runners who did not complete 26.2 miles were directed over the finish line and given a medal and finish time. I was outraged and refused to do so. Runners should be aware that the RocknRoll management is more interested in selling entries and merchandise than running a quality race especially for whole marathoners. This race was primarily a half and the course was clogged with unprepared people who walked the entire half. The start line was so crowded that we stood for almost an hour waiting to start which only increased the issues with heat. I would encourage runners to choose the Memphis marathon and I will never run another RocknRoll event. This would have been state #34 on my road to 50 states and is the worst race experience I have ever had and only race that I have not finished. Runners who were halted at mile 21 should have received an apology and free race entry in the future and of course we were not. I appreciate the volunteers and police who were wonderful but this was the worst race management ever!! | |
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B. S. from CT
(4/29/2017)
"Keeping up the profit margin" (about: 2017)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Competitor is focused on two things: (1) its target customer of the 2 hr 30 min half marathoner, and (2) keeping up the profits. This race is a cash cow with the huge number of half runners. When you finish as a marathoner, you feel like an afterthought. You have to be subsumed by a gauntlet of half runners. The second half of the course for the full is an out and back in an industrial district / muni golf course. Not much of a way to see Nashville. Biggest gripe is having only 17 water stations on a humid 80 degree day, half of which did not have Gatorade. Inexcusable. | |
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Wayne Wright from Palmdale, California USA
(6/5/2015)
"A Long Country Mile x 26.2" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 INTRODUCTION: I am a race-walker with a median marathon completion time of 5:16:11. The Country Music Marathon was my thirty-third 26.2-miler accomplished. COURSE: The big story here was whether we were to have a race or not. As late as the evening before the event, there were forecasts of 70 percent chance of thundershowers at start time with the possibility of tennis ball-sized hail - not something a marathon participant wanted to hear. Fortunately, this did not come to pass; it was not a great day for a marathon, but at least we were given the opportunity to get the race in. Weather conditions at start time were 61 degrees, 90 percent relative humidity, overcast skies with no noticeable wind. We started our race adjacent to the Bridgestone Arena (home of the Nashville Predators hockey club) in typical Rock 'n' Roll event fashion: numerous corrals with about 500 participants each separated by minute start intervals. Heading east on Broadway toward the Cumberland River, we passed by the honky tonks identified by their neon signs. We stayed in the downtown area on mostly two-lane streets for the first mile and a half, passing by the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Music City Center. During the entire race, not very often did we encounter a flat segment that would give us respite from the undulating course. Compounded by the warm, humid weather, we were in for a difficult day. One could divide the course into three segments after departing from the downtown area. The first segment took us south, initially reaching Music Row, passing by Studio B on 17th Avenue South, followed by Belmont University halfway between miles 3 and 4. We reach our southernmost point at mile 5, heading east on the narrow, residential Clifton Lane, which created some congestion for seven-tenths of a mile. We subsequently returned north, passing the retail district of 12th Avenue South, and eventually returning to Music Row at mile 8. Returning to downtown at mile 10, we embarked on the second leg of the course, which took us north. Just past mile 11, we separated with our half marathon friends, who outnumbered us by a factor of eight to one. Most of this portion was on Rosa L. Parks Boulevard, which was absent any diversion which would distract our concentration. We reach our northernmost point at mile 13. Returning south to downtown, we entered Bicentennial Mall State Park at mile 16, which gave us a view of the state capitol, before beginning to head east and crossing over the Cumberland River at mile 17. Our final segment took us east, initially passing by LP Field, where we saw the faster runners already finishing their marathon. With nine miles left, we continued east until reaching mile 18.3, where we backtracked on parallel streets until mile 19.3, where we turned left on South 5th Street, heading south. Past mile 20, we resumed our eastbound trek toward Shelby Park at mile 21. Perhaps the most scenic part of the course, marked by trees and the relative absence of buildings, we alternated between two lane roads and bicycle trails for the next three mile. Only the warm, humid weather and the presence of mosquitoes marred our enjoyment of this part of the course. Our final two miles returned us to the city, backtracking west on Davidson Street and north on South 5th Street. The presence of the final uphill at mile 25 on South 5th Street did not add to the fun. At mile 25.3, we turned left on Woodland Street, heading downhill toward LP Field, where we reached our course conclusion. Weather conditions at finish time was a mostly cloudy 79 degrees with a heat index of 80 degrees, 56 percent relative humidity, wind from the southwest at 10 mph with gusts up to 31 mph. ORGANIZATION: Very well executed expo with a good selection of race merchandise to choose from. Race execution from start to finish was well done. Also, we were treated to a free concert at Bridgestone Arena the same evening, featuring Martina McBride. FANS: Average for this size event. CONCLUSION: This was an event defined by the weather more than anything else. Unlike the mid-race cancellation that took place in 2010, we were able to get this year's race in. For that, we were grateful. | |
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R. L. from Wisconsin
(5/11/2015)
"Race directors need to rethink the start." (about: 2015)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This was my first time doing Nashville and a R&R event. Most of it was good. Very nice expo, scenic (and hilly) course, good crowd support along the route, decent post-race. Now for the bad. The start was a zoo. It's a corral start, with corral assignments based on anticipated finish times. Each corral had a 1000 series number - I started in corral 7 (7xxx number) doing the full marathon. The half goes off at the same time and from the same corrals. The ratio of half to full runners was 7-1 (based on finishers in the results). As I looked around my corral before the start, I saw many people with numbers in the 20000 and up range, which indicated that they should have been back in corral 20 or later. And it got worse - my corral went off about 10 minutes after corral 1. Within 3 miles I was passing people walking wearing 1000 series bibs (meaning they started in corral 1) for the half. Really! Until we lost the half runners at the split at mile 11, it was constant weaving around runners who had no business being out that early. Race directors - if you are not going to enforce the corral system, why bother? Summary - Nashville and the people get an 'A'; Rock 'n' Roll race management gets an overall 'C', with an 'F' for the start. Too many other better organized races out there for me to sign up for another R&R event. P.S. - the music along the course was great. | |
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B. H. from Atlanta, GA
(4/27/2015)
"Free-for-all corrals in Nashville CMM" (about: 2015)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 I had trained since Christmas to finish CMM full marathon at 4:30 and would have done it had there not been so many walkers to get around. I was in corral 20 as were the 4:30 full and 2:15 half pace runners. I had to pass many (most?) of the people around me the entire race because they should have been in a slower corral. While passing a row of 5 walkers side-by-side, I collided into another runner also trying to pass them. To avoid falling into the walkers, I lost my balance and pulled my right calf muscle. As the race wore on, the pain increased and around mile 11 when the full and half races split I decided I shouldn't finish the full. I limped to the half-marathon finish disappointed in myself and the race organizers. Looking at my Garmin route, it looks like a snake weaving through the streets on Nashville - not the way to set a PR but a good way to get injured. This was my 1st R&R race and it will also be my last. | |
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M. H. from Wisconsin
(9/23/2014)
"difficult course for 1st time marathoner" (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Rock 'n' Roll Country Music Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I had heard that Nashville was hilly, and I train on hills regularly, but wow. This was my first marathon, and it was very difficult. A few parts of the course got really congested. I really wish they'd have separate start times or start lines for half marathoners and marathoners. I feel like if I'm paying more to run the full course, I shouldn't have to deal with the excessive amount of half marathoners. Also, being it my first marathon, I was crushed to run past the finish line around mile 17, only to know that I had another 9 miles to go to cross it. Volunteers, organization, aid stations, expo, etc was all great. And that the race is so heavily involved with raising funds for St Jude is wonderful. I will run this race again because I want to beat this course |
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