Ragnar Relay Tennessee, the final overnight relay run of the 2012 Ragnar Relay Series calendar year, will take place on Friday, Nov. 9 through Saturday, Nov. 10. More than 2,600 runners from 39 states and the District of Columbia will take off from Coolidge Park in Chattanooga and wind their way through the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee before arriving at Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park along the Cumberland River on Saturday, Nov. 10. Many will be in tutus, painted faces and costumes to showcase the Ragnar experience.
The race will start between 5:30 a.m.–3 p.m. on Friday, and finish between 2 and 8 p.m. on Saturday. The starting area is Coolidge Park on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga (http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/tennessee/legs/1) and the finish area is Nashville’s Walk of Fame Park (http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/tennessee/legs/36). An overall course map can be found at http://www.ragnarrelay.com/race/tennesseee/course_maps.
More than 2,600 runners and some 246 teams, up ten percent in both categories from 2011 will take to the roads and trails of eastern Tennessee. Runners sporting costumes, painted vans and running day and night with headlamps and glow-in-the-dark vests will traverse the 196 mile course over two days, with 66% of the runners coming from across Tennessee. Participants come in all ages and experiences levels, with runners as young as 11 and as old as 78 years old.
They will be running to conquer the challenges of Ragnar and support local causes. This race is sponsored by Healthways of Tennessee, an organization committed to making the world and specifically the Tennessee area a healthier place. Together with Ragnar, Healthways supports healthy food options throughout the course and helps encourage teams and individuals to participate in the event.
This year’s Ragnar Relay Tennessee has formed a partnership with Soles4Souls, a nonprofit organization that helps provide new and lightly used shoes to individuals and families in need. Together with several retail Fleet Feet Stores throughout Tennessee, Ragnar Relay has helped collected more than 1,200 pairs of shoes to date, and is encouraging all runners to bring old pairs of shoes to either the start or finish line area where they can be dropped off at 1-800-GOT-JUNK trucks.
All shoes collected will be donated after the race to families in need throughout Tennessee.