Knoxville Marathon

Hadn't been to Tennessee so decided to run Knoxville Half Marathon... great choice. The town was very walkable and clean. We stayed at the Hampton Inn & Suites Knoxville-Downtown. Hotel was a block from the expo and start/finish line. Expo was a quick in and out. They had an excellent guest speaker (wounded warrior- total badass marathoner- triathlete) that we stayed for, very, very motivational- great choice. I like how the expo was right outside of University of TN on the World's Fair Park. It was a perfect setting. Be sure to go up in the Sunsphere for a lookout in all directions, it's free. Race day, Rocky Top was blasting and everyone was psyched to run with the music playing and people cheering. Wonderful way to wake up! It was an added bonus to be able to stay warm inside a building and use real bathrooms before the starting gun. You begin by running through UTenn. They had a drum line playing and throughout the course they had some really talented musicians playing! Then you exit campus and start running through very expensive neighborhoods where the houses look like McMansions. I loved it. There were always spectators out and ample amounts of water stops. I seek out hilly races, and Knoxville didn't let me down. The downhill finish was great. Didn't stick around at the finish as there were way too many restaurants within a 3 block walk to the town square to eat!!! I would like to run this race again sometime. I thought I got my money's worth in fun.

I cannot say enough good things about this race!!! Let's start with the pre-race and beginning of the race. Runners were allowed to stay inside the convention center (within about 100 feet of the start line) and stay warm, stretch out, and so on. There were ample porta johns at the start of the race and throughout the duration of the race. While the pre-race porta john line was long, it moved extremely fast. My total wait for a pre-race porta john was 6 minutes. Then this race gets you in the right frame of mind for the challenge ahead by reminding you in a hometown-pride kind of way that you are in Knoxville, Tennessee with an opening theme of Rocky Top blaring at almost deafening levels. Most of the crowd sang along and knew when to yell WOOOOO when their part came around. What a great vibe all of this gives to an out-of-towner! I just eat that stuff up! Now I realize that luck (weather, surface conditions, selected clothing, how your body and/or mind feel on that particular day, etc.) plays a significant role in overall performance on race day but I have to say, EVERYTHING WENT RIGHT! The communities you run through have so many people that take an active role in cheering you along. Really, I've never seen such an amazing level of fan support and all-around spectatorship in a race. If you like good fan support, this race is a great one for you to run. The weather was 40 degrees F at the start and climbed to about 50 degrees F by the time I finished. There was some wind but despite the forecast of over 10 MPH winds, they never once felt that strong at any point during the race. It was overcast through the first 21-ish miles of my race and it was pleasant to NOT have the sun beating down on me for the duration of my race. I have found this type of weather to be a rare luxury. And if you like a good challenge, this race is a great one for you to run. It felt like the first 19 miles were all hills and turns. I read the reviews and I listened to the feedback of the runners that have gone before me. I saw a lot of people saying to train on hills. Yeah, if you can do that, sure. If you are not lucky enough to live in a place that can mimic this level of hills, there is still one common-sense thing you can do to finish this race in one piece. My advice to anyone planning to put this race on their calendar is to simply run slower than you normally would through the first 13 miles or so. Seriously, I tried to add 40 seconds per mile to my pace and I got every bit of it returned to me later in the race when I really needed it. It will save your knees, believe me. In all the marathons I've ever run, I've never managed to run negative or even splits. But with the approach above, I finished less than a minute away from running even splits for both halves. The course conditions (surface conditions, I mean) were prepared for optimal race day performance. I can tell you that there were some patches of pavement and some patches of trail through the woods that had recently acquired some minor and some not-so-minor divots and potholes. HOWEVER, those divots and potholes had been filled with packed gravel (in the pavement) and some sort of crushed limestone/dirt mix in the woods. I don't know if that was at the direction of race personnel or just dumb luck but either way, it made the experience significantly better than other marathons I have run. Even at my 4:27:47 marathon pace, those patched areas were still holding firm by the time I got there. WELL DONE, KNOXVILLE! In addition, there were some areas of pooled water on the course from some moderate rain the night before. Those water hazards were all coned off or well-marked in some way so they could be easily avoided. There were stacks of Bojangles fried chicken meals available after the race. Who doesn't like some post-race fried chicken??? Thank you to everyone involved in making this race such a fun time! This was a great marathon experience and I'll definitely be back for more. ROCKY TOP TENNESSEE&WOOOOOO!!!!

This is a great marathon! In particular, the organization is just superb. From the expo to the finish party, and everything in between, this is as good as it gets. Great course, with lots of variety. A bit hilly, but not that bad. Start/finish area is so runner friendly, with great indoor facilities to help deal with the cool temps. And close to plenty of downtown hotels and restaurants. Very nice finishers jacket especially for full marathoners, and the nicest trophy I've ever received for an age group win. Very nice fans, and a terrific band at the after party. Loved this race!