Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon

Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon
Date	April
Location	Nashville, Tennessee
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon, half marathon, and 5K
Primary sponsor	St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Established	2000 (24 years ago) (2000)
Course records	Men: 2:12:55 (2000) Luke Kibet Women: 2:28:06 (2003) Irina Bogacheva
Official site	Official website

Runners in 2016

The Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon, previously known as the Country Music Marathon (2000–2015), is an annual marathon, half marathon, and 5K run that has been held in Nashville, Tennessee, since 2000. The marathon is followed by an evening country music concert.^[a] Nashville is a major center for the music industry, especially country music, and is commonly known as "Music City" ^[1]

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon.^[b] It is owned by Advance Publications as part of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series.

History

The marathon was first held in April 2000 when 3,230 men and 2,589 women completed the event.

As the event grew in popularity, a half-marathon was added in 2002. This was soon followed by the addition of a kids marathon. A 5k run was added to the race options as well as wheelchair versions of the marathon, half-marathon, and 5k races. The number of participants in the 2008 event exceeded 30,000 total entrants. Hendersonville resident Scott Wietecha won the full marathon seven consecutive years from 2013 to 2019.^[2]

The 2020 race was postponed to November 21 and later cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[3][4][5] The 2021 edition was postponed from the traditional spring date and was held on November 20. It featured a new winner after seven-time defending winner Scott Wietecha chose not to compete.^[6][7]

Course

The route begins on Broadway and continues along many of Nashville's sights, including Bridgestone Arena, the Nashville Symphony, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Union Station, Music Row, Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, the Belmont Mansion, the Tennessee State Capitol, the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, First Horizon Park, the Cumberland River, and Shelby Park, before ending outside Nissan Stadium.^[8]

Band stages featuring live musical entertainment are located along the course. Many bands and high school cheerleaders entertain runners and walkers, and friends, families, and neighbors join in cheering on participants.

Winners

Key:       (†) Course record (in bold)

Ed.	Year	Men's winner	Time[c]	Women's winner	Time[c]
1	2000	Luke Kibet (KEN)	2:12:55^†	Lucia Subano (KEN)	2:37:02
2	2001	Christopher Cheboiboch (KEN)	2:13:27	Aurica Buia (ROM)	2:34:40
3	2002	Jackson Chebet (KEN)	2:18:59	Aurica Buia (ROM)	2:35:58
4	2003	Jomo Kororia (KEN)	2:12:56	Irina Bogacheva (KGZ)	2:28:06^†
5	2004	Luke Kibet (KEN)	2:14:11	Anuța Cătună (ROM)	2:33:36
6	2005	Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN)	2:15:38	Irina Safarova (RUS)	2:33:53
7	2006	Feyisa Tusse (ETH)	2:15:06	Tatyana Mironova (RUS)	2:36:51
8	2007	Simon Wangai (KEN)	2:13:52	Olena Shurkhno (UKR)	2:37:52
9	2008	Sylvester Chebii (KEN)	2:14:27	Svetlana Ponomarenko (RUS)	2:30:33
10	2009	Amos Tirop Matui (KEN)	2:13:41	Tatyana Pushkareva (RUS)	2:36:44
11	2010	William Najanjo (COL)	2:15:38	Ilsa Paulson (USA)	2:33:39
12	2011	David Kellum (KEN)	2:17:40	Ruby Milena Riativa (COL)	2:49:59
13	2012	Ryan James (USA)	2:32:47	Erin Sutton (USA)	2:54:16
14	2013	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:22:41	Jill Horst (USA)	2:57:51
15	2014	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:25:51	Jeannette Faber (USA)	2:47:32
16	2015	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:23:33	Melanie Kulesz (USA)	3:04:28
17	2016	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:25:42	Melanie Kulesz (USA)	2:59:09
18	2017	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:40:25	Lauren Mitchell (USA)	3:17:32
19	2018	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:28:16	Stella Chrisoforou (USA)	2:53:44
20	2019	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:34:59	Anna Bailey (USA)	2:51:49
–	2020	Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic[3]
21	2021	Will Cadwell (USA)	2:26:34	Gisela Olalde (USA)	2:46:10
22	2022	Ryan Martin (USA)	2:41:25	Sidney Hirsch (USA)	2:59:57
23	2023	Garang Madut (USA)	2:27:06	Sarah Higgens (USA)	2:43.54
24	2024	Mitchell Small (USA)	2:27:33	Kate van Buskirk (CAN)	2:37:40

Notes

1. The concert has previously featured artists such as Sara Evans, Phil Vassar, Jo Dee Messina, Brad Paisley, and Lee Roy Parnell.
2. This is in contrast with some of Nashville's other marathons, e.g. Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon and Greenway Marathon.
3. h:m:s

References

1. "Rock 'N' Roll Running Series Nashville". Visit Nashville TN. March 21, 2019. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
2. Organ, Mike (April 27, 2019). "Scott Wietecha wins seventh consecutive St. Jude Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon". The Tennessean. USA Today. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
3. "Twitter". Archived from the original on November 17, 2020.
4. "Rock 'n' Roll Nashville | Rock n Roll Marathon Series | Marathon Half…". Archived from the original on November 17, 2020.
5. "The Latest: Virus issues force Louisiana game to be canceled - the Wa…". Archived from the original on November 17, 2020.
6. Organ, Mike (November 18, 2021). "Why 7-time Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Marathon champ Scott Wietecha won't run Saturday". The Tennessean. USA Today. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
7. Organ, Mike (November 20, 2021). "Michigan's Will Cadwell wins 2021 Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Marathon". The Tennessean. USA Today. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
8. "The Course". Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon. Retrieved March 25, 2016.

List of winners

• "Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon - Nashville, Tennessee Past Race Results (2000–2011)". Active Results. Retrieved March 25, 2016.
• "Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon - Nashville, Tennessee Past Race Results (2011–present)". Active Results. Retrieved March 25, 2016.

External links

• Official website

36°09′55″N 86°46′24″W