Terri and I met Tori in Nashville for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon and 1 mile so we could get the Remix medal. Usually, we would run the 5k and the half, but all of those races were on the same day and close to the same start time.
We flew in Friday morning and dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed to breakfast w/mimosas, then downtown to the Expo. It was easy process to pick up our shirts/bibs. The amount of vendors was small but it looks like it’s getting back to pre-COVID times. There was a live band and a bar in the expo. There’s no place like Nashville. Loved it! There was a spinning wheel that we all tried and I thought I would win chapstick or something, but I ended up winning a race entry at one of the selected RNR races. As a group we picked RNR AZ in January, just call me VIP.
Saturday was the half marathon. We walked to the start line which was probably a mile from the hotel. There was great police presence at the start line which was nice to see. They had about 20 corrals or so (we were not the last) but they didn’t have anyone checking the corrals either and everyone was chill with it. The race was delayed a little bit for some reason, so we had time to talk, laugh, and for Tori to photo bomb other people’s selfies. When the people would look back, Tori would look away. The start line had the red-light green light start which spaced out the people; however, it took forever. We didn’t start until 8AM. The weather was good and a little breezy at times until the sun came out in full force. They were struggling for volunteers like any event these days. Some water stops couldn’t keep up with the amount of people and another water stop ran out of cups. I skipped that one and thank goodness the next one had cups. The course itself had nice scenery downtown, music row, beautiful neighborhoods EXCEPT the course was so hilly. I didn’t realize how hilly it was. We finished at the Titans stadium where they were handing out 0.0 beer by the case to anyone that would take it. No one wanted it. I’m not a beer person so said I just said NO.0 when they offered. Then we walked our 2 miles back to the hotel uphill. After we cleaned up, we were off again, we ended up with a little over 26 miles total for the day. My sister met us at Jack’s BBQ (Tori’s fav) and off we went to Gaylord something or other. We stopped by the Grand Ole Opry for some photo ops where we chatted with Jenny the blind runner we saw & ran next to in the Gasparilla races. We got to the Gaylord and felt like we walked another 5K & finally found the bar where Terri met Mr. Jack Daniels. Tori got a little frisky with him too! Then back downtown.
Sunday we slept in a little since the 1 mile was not until 1230. We walked to breakfast and talked to some other runners. We walked another 2 miles to get to our 1-mile race. We needed to keep moving so we wouldn’t stiffen up from Saturday. We got to the stadium and there was food trucks, games for kids, and dogs everywhere. There was a doggie dash. The dogs had a shirt type thing or bandana from RNR. The dogs (and owners) completed the 1/2 mile and the Weinerdog won. Most were just walking anyway. We started our 1-mile race and we just walked. Our glutes and legs were so sore. We walked, talked, did a group hug, and refused the 0.00 beer offer. Then the game plan was to walk back to hotel to change and go downtown but downtown was before our hotel. We stopped by the Country Music Hall of Fame. As we were waiting in line to buy tickets, this couple came up to us and gave us 2 tickets. Then a couple minutes later a woman gave us ticket for some type of tour, but we didn’t make it to that. Well after that, we listened to a few bands with a few drinks. Other people would come up to our table and others come up to us on the street and just talk away. We must have had friendly faces. On one of the outings, we met a drummer that was about to start playing. We came back to listen to his band we even got a shout out from the band. We finally made it back to the hotel to crash for the night.
Monday morning, we got late check out and off to breakfast we go for a mimosa, but some had beer or bourbon not saying who. We went back downtown for shopping etc. before we had to get to the airport.
Overall, it was a great trip except for those dang hills.
