The January 2016 Running Challenge

Elise4270 wrote: »

Stoshew71 wrote: »

@Elise4270 I would rather not anyone pay for my shirt. I may buy a couple for myself and a third one for my wife. So that would just get confusing. If anyone wants to thank me, I have a great idea. Let's find a super fun race in Tennesee, Kentucky, or southern Indiana (kind of right in the heart of the midwest and a drive away for me) and we all meet, then you can buy me all the drinks your hearts desire after we get done with the race. :-)

So down with that! I may or may not be in running shape (surgeries looming ahead). But I'll be there!

Pick a few you favor and let us know.

Too may to list here on HalfMarathons.com

This first one sounds like a relay race where we would need to put a team of us together. :-)

Kentucky: The Bourbon Chase
Distance: 200 miles (relay)
Month: October

Both casual joggers (and drinkers!) and serious athletes (and drinkers!) are invited to join in on the fun at the Bourbon Chase. Just save the drinks for after the finish line! Teams of six to 12 unite to cross the Bluegrass State in a 200-mile relay race along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The race begins near Bardstown, the bourbon capital of the world, then winds through horse farms, historic bourbon distilleries, and hilly countryside landscapes, all leading up to a finish line in downtown Lexington. Teams can celebrate post-race at a festival with live music, food, and celebratory drinks (bourbon, of course).


Mississippi: Mississippi Blues Marathon
Distance: Marathon, marathon relay, half marathon, 10K
Month: January

As rich in music history as it is in swag, this 26.2-mile trot packs in a lot of tunes at every marker. Runners race along the Mississippi Blues Trail as well as popular blues venues and the state's original capitol. Live music plays along the course, and each Mississippi Blues Marathon finisher takes home a hefty swag bag, including a harmonica and a blinged-out music-themed finisher's medal. Those who aren't quite ready for a marathon but still want to enjoy the festival-like atmosphere (start and finish lines double as a concert space) can choose between a half marathon, a “Quarter Note” (roughly a 10K), or marathon relay. And for runners who really want to celebrate their finish, there's a post-race bar "Blues Crawl" available.


Missouri: The MO’ Cowbell Marathon
Distance: Marathon, half marathon, 5K
Month: October

As Christopher Walken said on Saturday Night Live, “I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell.” Clearly the MO' Cowbell Marathon organizers caught the same bug, because they created a whole marathon around these obtrusive noisemakers. But aside from the copious use of cowbells, the race itself is a flat, fast course that starts and finishes in Frontier Park. Runners wind through New Town St. Charles, looping around the neighborhood, then pass by the original starting point before heading north for an out-and-back stretch along the Katy Trail. Participants can also opt for a half marathon or a 5K, and everyone gets treated to the race’s “High-Five Zone,” a cheer area at mile five equipped with entertainment, activities, and—you guessed it!—cowbells for spectators.



Tennessee: St. Jude Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon and Half Marathon
Distance: Marathon, half marathon
Month: April

Celebrating cowboy boots, Southern drawls, and the best of country music, this marathon is recognized as the ultimate tour of Music City. The full course takes 30,000 runners past historic sites like the Parthenon, the Country Music Hall of Fame, Nashville’s world-famous Music Row, and through the finish line just outside the LP Field stadium. Those looking for a shorter distance can opt to run the half marathon, but both courses feature the same rolling hills. (Read: Your calves won't get much of a break.) As expected, there’s plenty of live music on the course, and participants also have the option to attend a post-race concert. Past performers include Sara Evans, Brad Paisley, Phil Vassar, Jo Dee Messina, Diamond Rio, Martina McBride, and Kenny Rogers.


^^^^^ by the way, if you never heard of the Honky Tonks in Nashville, Oh my! This would be the most awesome after party.



Indiana: OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon
Distance: Half marathon, 5K
Month: May

Runners! Start your engines! This race takes place at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—the world’s largest spectator sporting facility—drawing 40,000 participants. The OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is the nation’s biggest half marathon, and it gives runners the opportunity to complete 2.5 miles of the course on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, home to the world-famous Indianapolis 500 car race. The epic “mini marathon,” now in its 39th year, could be considered a pre-game ritual to the Indy 500. (It’s held during the weeks leading up to the sporting event.) Festivities include an accompanying 5K race, more than 80 live bands along the course, and a huge post-race festival in downtown Indianapolis' Military Park.


Kentucky: Kentucky Derby Marathon and Half Classic. Held in Louisville the Saturday before the city's world-famous horse race, these two races have thousands of finishers each year. The Boston-qualifying marathon kicks off the week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, which leads up to the main running event (the one with the horses).

Tennesee: Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN
Month: April

The name of Tennessee’s Oak Barrel Half Marathon, which is set for its 7th annual running here in this town of just over 5,000 residents in the spring of 2016, becomes apparent if you’ve ever looked closely at the label on a bottle of whiskey, as Lynchburg is the home and world headquarters of the Jack Daniels Distillery, where every bottle of its world famous whiskey is made.

Runners who make their way to this beautifully scenic small town in the hills of southern Tennessee, located along the state’s Cumberland plateau, will get a chance to enjoy both its small-town charm and the irony that the county in which Jack Daniels whiskey is made and sold, Tennessee’s Moore County, is a dry county — which means also that while the whiskey can be made here, it can’t be sold by the bottle or the glass in its own hometown.

What that has yielded is some intriguing creativity on the part of local shop owners, cafes and restaurants, where you can see items on the menus like “whiskey coffee” and even “whiskey cheeseburgers” (I’ve actually enjoyed one of these on a years-ago visit to Lynchburg, and believe me, you don’t want to get behind the wheel after you’ve had one!).

The distillery itself is well worth a visit, as authentic Tennessee mountain men — complete with overalls and all — lead visitors on a tour of the distillery’s whiskey operations, where you can take in the sights, sounds and smells of real Tennessee whiskey.

Now all of that, of course, has little to do with the actual race, which organizers plan as an out-and-back race that takes runners both through the town of Lynchburg and along the tree-lined rural country roads that surround the town, with a route featuring plenty of green farm fields and the pastoral beauty of the rolling countryside of this part of Tennessee.

The course starts at the Lynchburg Courthouse Square, and runners will finish the race just a short stretch up Highway 55, at the Jack Daniels Distillery, where the race organizers plan to host both the post-race festivities and the event’s award ceremonies, where they will present awards both to the top three overall male and female winners as well as awards in several age group categories.

Just over 1,100 runners crossed the finish line in the half marathon in 2014, and the 2015 race will be limited to the first 1,450 entrants. Runners also will have a course time limit of 4 hours.

^^^^ BTW, HTC (my local official running organization) puts on a picnic every year since we bring a big contigient with us. This 2016 race also sold out within hours, it's that popular (and small). So, this is a bucket list for 2017.



Race 13.1 Memphis Half Marathon & 8K
Month: April in Memphis, TN

Race 13.1 will add its third race to Tennessee with the inaugural April 9, 2016 half marathon and 8k event in Memphis. Starting and finishing on Mud Island, participants will enjoy beautiful water views as they run along the Mississippi River before heading over the Wolf River Harbor on A.W. Willis Bridge, overlooking the Memphis Pyramid. Once over the bridge, runners will proceed through the heart of downtown Memphis, passing City Hall, Civic CIty Plaza and the beautiful Memphis Park. The next section of the course is a beautiful stretch on Riverside Drive, a street whose name says it all – running along the Mississippi River and Tom Lee Park. Returning on Riverside Drive, runners will turn onto the iconic Beale Street, which is deeply rooted and responsible for blues style music and filled with great BBQ restaurants.

The next stretch of the course takes place largely on N. 2nd Street, which will provide beautiful Wolf River Harbor views until runners return to the finish along the Mississippi River back to the heart of Mud Island.

Like all Race 13.1 events, runners can expect plenty of well-stocked, well-staffed aid stations and lots of enthusiastic course monitors along the way. Runners can expect to have a text message from Race 13.1 with a link to the live results waiting for them when they cross the finish line, along with a first class post-race party. Over 1,500 runners are expected in the half marathon that will start at 7:00 AM while the 8k will begin at 7:15 AM.



Go Commando Half Marathon, 10K & 5K
Saturday, October 17, 2015 • Clarksville, TN

Known for the natural beauty of its mountains and the music that is made just a short drive away in nearby Nashville, the region of the Southeast known as Middle Tennessee plays host to the 5th annual running in 2015 of the Go Commando Half Marathon, 10K & 5K this fall.
Described by the race organizers as a course that’s fast and flat, the Go Commando race will follow an out-and-back loop through the city that starts and finishes along Riverside Drive.
From there, runners will fan out into the city, including its newly built Marina and Liberty Park, along the downtown streets of Clarksville and along stretches of the winding Cumberland River that flows through the city Just over 1,200 runners cross the finish line in the race each year.

As the organizers put it, the race’s name is in part a shout-out to the military troops and families stationed at nearby Fort Campbell — the home of the 101st Airborne Division, which lies just 10 miles from the city’s downtown — and to all those who just enjoy “going commando.”

When they arrive for the race packet pickup, race participants will receive a pair of booty-ful “ranger panties” — because you can’t always “go commando” — as well as a finisher’s medal and collector’s cup at the finish for the race.

For 2015, the scheduled starting time for the race is 7:30 AM, and the event is limited to the first 2,000 entrants.

AJC Peachtree Road race 10K
Every 4th of July - Atlanta, GA

The AJC Peachtree Road Race, organized by Atlanta Track Club, is the largest 10K in the world. In its 47th running, the AJC Peachtree Road Race has become a Fourth of July tradition for thousands of people throughout the metro Atlanta area and beyond. Come kick off your Fourth of July festivities with us! The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race is one of the premier Fourth of July traditions in Atlanta, with its festive atmosphere, scenic city course and beloved finisher’s T-shirt. Organized by Atlanta Track Club, the event attracts 60,000 runners and walkers of all ages and abilities each year. The AJC Peachtree Road Race starts in Buckhead near Lenox Square Mall and ends in Piedmont Park.

Franklin Half Marathon - Franklin, TN (just outside of Nashville)
Month: June in Leiper’s Fork, TN

Here in this region filled with green, rolling hills that lies virtually a stone’s throw from the Natchez Trace Parkway — the historic 444-mile-long highway that runs through Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi — this tiny village just outside Franklin plays host to the 3rd annual running of the Franklin Half Marathon just as spring is giving way to summer here on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau region.

The race is set to take runners on a big, sweeping out-and-back course through the country roads near Leiper’s Fork, an unincorporated village that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its preserved 19th-century architecture.

Leiper’s Fork also lies on the Natchez Trace Parkway, now a National Park Service-designated historic highway that has been an important travel route for thousands of years, going back to the Choctaw, Chickasaw and Natchez native American tribes.

Runners in the Franklin Half Marathon will start the race at the corner of Old Hillsboro Road and Floyd Road, and from there make a clockwise loop along Bailey Road, Bear Creek Road and Leipers Creek Road. After the stretch on Leipers Creek Road, the course brings runners back onto Old Hillsboro Road for the race finish back where they started.

The inaugural race in 2013 was dubbed the “Hot, Humid and Hilly Half.” We will have plenty of runner support out there, but you should be prepared for heat, humidity and hills. It was also dubbed one of the most scenic courses as well — you will definitely be rewarded for the challenge ahead.

The cutoff time for the race is 4 hours, which organizers note will be strictly enforced. The race also will be limited to the first 2,000 entrants, so runners are encouraged to sign up early.

This is actually the location of the famous YouTube video of the hillbillies dueling banjo/guitar to Deliverance. They need to change the name of this race to the What Y'all Running From HM.



If anyone ever thinks about coming to Alabama to race, our 2 biggest races up here in the north is the Cotton Row Run 10K and 5K (every Memorial Day weekend) & the Rocket City Marathon (every December).

To @MorningGhost14 or anyone else interested, we also have some great trail run races here in Huntsville up at Monte Sano State Park:

Mountain Mist 50K Trail Run (January)
McKay Hollow Madness 25K Trail Run (March)
Monte Sano 10K & 5K Road Races & Kids Fun Run (September)
Dizzy Fifties Trail Run 50K/40 & 50 Mile (November)

kristinegift wrote: »

@Stoshew71 Those races look so great, BUT OH MY GOD I WISH I KNEW WHERE I WOULD BE LIVING FOR MOST OF THEM (specifically anything after May, and my spring races are all booked for 2016). You have renewed my graduation-related existential crisis!
...but if I still live nearish the east coast come June, I will see if I can make it to a race that other people are at, but I am in no position to make any plans or promises. It's really putting a damper on my desire to plan all my 2016 races right away.

Told you that you need to move to northern Alabama after you graduate. ;-)

The only one I am signed up for or have ever ran was the Oak Barrel one. I was just going through the race list and those seem to be the most interesting ones in that general area that I could find. However, if we get enough interest in one of those races, then I would sign up (or at least attend as a spectator). Plus the invitation would continue on through 2017 race season as well if we can't do it this year.

Seems like we have at least 2 people interested for the Bourbon Chase Run. (I would make 3)
EDITED: Lenny makes 4.