Country Music Marathon Nashville

                Country Music Marathon      

This past Saturday my daughter ran in the 2010 Country Music ½ Marathon Race in Nashville, Tennessee. We left home on Friday and drove up in order to get to the expo early and pick up her race packet. Our thinking was that being there in the morning as they opened we would beat most of the crowd. We were partially right. We may have beat some of the crowd but there were still thousands already there waiting before it even opened. We waited in lines just to get onto the escalators to go to the lower levels. It felt like we were cattle being herded to loading shoots.

        This being the fourth leg of the 2010 Rock and Roll Marathon series, there were over 35,000 runners signed up to run including the YMCA’s kids marathon held on Friday. Almost 31,000 finished the full and half marathons. Multiply this with most people having additional family and friends with them to cheer them on and it was staggering.

The earlier race series were run in Arizona in January with over 27,000 finishers, New Orleans in February with almost 13,000 finishers, and Dallas, Texas in March with almost 9,500 finishers. Some of these races included half marathons, full marathons, 50K’s and 2 person relays. These are really big deals in the towns where they are held. In Nashville alone I read that they expected a minimum of 40 million dollars of revenue to be generated from this event alone. That’s astounding!

                The Expo

Once we finally arrived at the entrance door to the expo at the Nashville Convention Center, we were directed to the registration lines. These were set up by whichever corral you had been assigned to at the start line according to your expected finish time. This was a time that you had predicted yourself based on your pace in previous races and training runs. As it were, we were sent to coral 9. The longer lines seemed to be at the higher numbers, so we were able to get to the counter fairly quickly.

Once my daughter gave her name, the man behind the packet pickup counter searched his box for her packet. She had to produce a driver’s license to verify her identity as no one else could pick up her packet for her. Once he saw where we were from, he kind of smirked and said “Hmmph! You guys came up here to run in our race. Don’t you have your own ones to run in?” We just looked at each other and tried to decipher if he was really serious. As he looked through his box he continued to mumble some incomprehensible nonsense. I jokingly offered to him that we often welcomed people from Tennessee in our races and were always happy to take their money so we figured Tennessee would like to receive some of ours back. He just ignored my comments and gave us our packet explaining where to go to get her t-shirt and how to change corrals. After taking the packet and proceeding on, we were feeling a little uneasy about the exchange we’d just had. Surely we told ourselves; in this day and age the “feuds” between states no longer existed.

After making a quick corral change to coral 8 to be able to run with a friend, we moved on to the t-shirt pickup and into the first section before actually entering the expo exhibits. Brooks Running Apparel had everything imaginable for sale. Not hugely discounted but if you looked hard enough you could find a deal or two. Limited in their sizes on t-shirts, but had some very friendly sales people. Their checkout counters were very well organized to handle the huge volume of customers there. After making a few purchases, we moved into the actual expo arena.

Holy Crowds! Dozens of vendors had been set up, each hawking whatever product they represented. It was an athlete’s dream. From shirts to shoes to hair implements to performance enhancing supplements. There were watches and bracelets to compression socks and quilts. It was off the wall! Publix was the mother lode. They were giving away food samples, noise makers and banners for the spectators to cheer on their loved ones.

We made our way to the line for the will call ticket booth for the concert that was to follow the awards ceremony that night. The lady there asked for the name and a photo ID. Again with the comments about being from another state. What the heck? I know for a fact that there were people from all over the United States running in this race. Even some international participants; so what gives? Was it just our state? Then when we walked away, I looked back and caught them giving us the stink eye. Good grief! Just smile and move on….

After spending quite some time at the expo, we finally made our way to the exit. Now it was on to the hotel. Our GPS gave us great directions; straight through industrial park and through the seedier part of the city. I don’t mind saying I was a little nervous about this hotel we had booked online.

However, once we arrived I was very pleased with our accommodations and location at the Radisson. It was out by the airport with eating establishments within walking distance. The check in was painless and pleasant. They even gave us vouchers for several complimentary meals in their restaurant. Very nice touch indeed and one that we took advantage of. The room was nice and clean and comfortable with a good view. They even made special arrangements for their guests to provide a shuttle bus to the starting line near the Parthenon in Centennial Park and from the finish line later at LP Field. This was wonderful since the tickets for the events shuttles were sold out already on Friday. Believe me the $20 that we paid was well worth the round trip afterwards. Especially after seeing the nightmare of parking at the event and the fact that the bus was waiting on us at the curb when it was over. Sweet! The shuttle bus concierge was sp pleasant and accommodating. He welcomed us-even if we were from another state!

                Early Departure

The morning of the race was so exciting and at times overwhelming. The bus ride over to Centennial Park included people from Ohio and Boston. It was a first from the ones from Boston. They were nervous and anxious. We arrived at about 5:30 AM for the 7:00 AM start time. Thank goodness we did, because they moved the start time up because of the impending bad weather. That maneuver turned out to be a blessing and a curse for some.

Due to the nightmare of parking that many people and then gear drop offs that were across the park from the start line, if you weren’t there early you didn’t know about the start time change. Many of those that were in the earlier corrals didn’t get to start at their assigned times and had to jump in wherever. This turned out to be bad for those whose times were faster and had to fight past the slower runners.

The earlier start was good because it allowed most of the runners to be finished before the rain started. However, they had also implemented a cutoff time for the marathon runners to reach the halfway point before they were diverted to the half marathon course. Then because they felt the weather was an issue, the race officials cut the marathon course short and sent the marathoners to the finish line at 22 miles instead of 26. This was devastating to some who were trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. This action knocked some out of the running completely. Very disappointing for them.

       
         The Finish Line

My daughter finished with a personal record in her now worn out  Brooks Glycerin running shoes. Unfortunately due to the sheer number of runners, I missed seeing her at the finish line, as well as everyone else I was there to support. Crap! But we were able to get pictures afterwards. It was scary though watching some of the runners literally being dragged across the finish line nearly unconscious. Sadly, we later learned that one of those runners actually died from cardiac arrest. Now that is truly frightening.

The girls were exhausted and hurting but exhilarated. A day well spent and one filled with lasting memories. The death aside, I must say the overall experience was something that I would have never wanted to miss. Taking just one more leg of this fabulous journey that we have chosen to embark upon.

The bus ride back to the Radisson included runners from Tennessee and Kentucky and some ladies from parts unknown. Our “Chatty Cathy” rider from Texas entertained us with his exhilaration and enthusiasm. The ride only took about 15 minutes but it was a nice finish to a well spent morning. However, there were a couple of speed bumps along the way back.

Crap Happens

One of the runners was nauseous and was giving it her best not to hurl over everyone aboard. Thankfully she waited until we made it back to the hotel. Unfortunately, another one of the riders had experienced what has to be the most humiliating things that could happen: runners trots. Oh Lordy! She had crapped herself and as we sat on the bus for a good twenty minutes before we left LP Field and another 15 minutes to the hotel, it got a little dicey. As we disembarked the bus and made our way to the lobby, it was painfully obvious what had happened. She had tried to cover it up with her jacket only to have it seep through. I just hate to think about the next group to ride that bus. Ugh! As we entered the elevators, some innocent bystander made a comment about something stinking. I wanted to crawl under the rug. I have definitely decided that the day something like this ever happens to me will be the day I give up running.....

              Retail Therapy

After a well deserved nap and the passing of some ugly thunderstorms that spawned a few tornadoes, we decided to visit the Opry Mills Outlet Mall. We enjoyed the visit but quickly realized we were too exhausted to last very long. So after an hour or so we returned to the hotel, called it a night and retired to a deep sleep. The next day we had a noon check out and took full advantage of it. We packed up and headed home just in time to stop along the way to visit the Franklin Street Festival. Another adventure to blog about.

What a fabulous time we had! Next weekend it is a Run Through The Roses 10K run in Huntsville, Alabama.