Nashville Country Music Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon

The Nashville Country Music Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and Marathon was held Saturday April 27. I ran the half marathon with 2 girlfriends and also knew a friend of ours who was running the marathon. We decided to make a girl’s trip out of the race so we went down the Thursday night before and stayed until Monday morning (will do a separate post on the trip).

The expo was held Thursday and Friday. We went Friday to pick up our race number, swag bag, and t-shirts. There were over 60 exhibitors. One thing that was really neat was they had screens previewing the race course for us so we knew what the supposedly horrendous hills looked like. It also showed elevation so it gave us a heads up on where the worst hills were going to be. We had a fun time walking around trying the different samples from power bars to energy jelly beans.

We were a little disappointed in the gear they were selling that said Nashville Country Music Rock ‘n’ Roll on it. However we did walk away with Run for Boston tanks which the proceeds went to the families.

Race time was 7:00 AM on Saturday morning and as we expected it was raining and the forecast all day was rain, rain, rain with temperatures in the 50’s.

The process of getting to the race and into our corrals was super easy, which is always a great thing when you have pre-race jitters. Thank goodness Stacy thought to bring ponchos for us! This allowed us to stay a little warmer and drier before the start.

This is how I felt before the race….cold, scared, and not in the mood to run 13.1 miles. One positive was that we were in corral 3 since we signed up with a pace of 8 minutes so we were able to start the race a lot sooner than most people.

There were over 30,000 people racing either the mini marathon, half marathon, or marathon. It was really surreal to look back and not be able to see the end of people before the start. Being the largest race since the Boston marathon it was emotional as well. There was a moment of silence before the race where everyone raised there arm and did the peace sign.

With about 5 minutes to go before the start we decided to ditch the ponchos and get our game faces on. It’s go time!

Here are some photos showing the race. Notice all the umbrellas? It was pouring.

If you look closely enough you can even see water dripping off my face.

Although it was raining and cooler temperatures I felt GREAT during the race. I think the temperature was actually perfect! I could of went without the rain, but it made for a memorable experience.

Stacy and I after the race with our medals and we both got PR’s! Defiantly brought smiles to our face.

One last shot in our race gear in a warm car. After the race I was sooooo cold and my body tightened up like no other. I was so happy to feel heat.

Here was my time shown on race day. Although my race certificate shows 1:46:02, so it looks like they added on 35 seconds to everyone’s time. A little disappointing since I thought I broke 1:45, but still 10 minutes faster than my previous half marathon none the less.

Anytime you get a PR or heck even run a race it calls for a celebration. We went out for brunch (after a HOT shower) wearing our medals proud.

On a side note we had shirts made for the race and but Shake It For Me on the back from Luke Bryan’s hit song. One moment I will never forget from the race is right when I crossed the finish line a guy came up to me started “shaking it” and gave me a high five.

Overall the Nashville Country Music Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was an amazing experience. From the race atmosphere to getting a personal record. The only downfall is not every mile had a band playing like the Rock ‘n’ Roll series boasts. I guess it’s a little understandable since it was down-pouring. Most miles were just DJ equipment blasting music. The actual course was great! I had heard that the hills were terrible, but since I had ran an extremly hilly course 2 weeks prior this course seemed like a piece of cake.  I highly recommend this race and I wouldn’t be surprised if I make a second appearance.

Have you ever ran a Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon series race?

What are your thoughts on running in the rain?

Nashville trip post coming soon!