Come enjoy the beauty of Tennessee’s most popular state park! Cooler temps, shaded run course, and the highest free-falling waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains are just a few of the attractions of the Fall Creek Falls Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Runs. Post-race snacks and music for all participants. …
MORE
Come enjoy the beauty of Tennessee’s most popular state park! Cooler temps, shaded run course, and the highest free-falling waterfall east of the Rocky Mountains are just a few of the attractions of the Fall Creek Falls Half Marathon, 10K & 5K Runs. Post-race snacks and music for all participants. Centrally located between Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville.
Routes begin & end through the Taft Village area and across Fall Creek Falls Dam. 5K does an out & back on paved path through woods to LEFT after Dam. Half Marathon & 10K route goes RIGHT after Dam & follows paved path & park roads past the Inn at Fall Creek Falls back to Dam and FINISH in Taft Village area. Half Marathon is two loops of paved bike trail / park road sections. Timing verification points will be along course. Aid stations each mile with water & Base Performance. Path route is completely shaded. Please stay on side of road marked with TRAFFIC CONES on the MAIN PARK ROAD of the course.
LESS
Worth doing if you are local'ish.
This is a pretty park. When I got to the race I thought it was a trail run. That's just my bad for not paying enough attention to the race … MORE
This is a pretty park. When I got to the race I thought it was a trail run. That’s just my bad for not paying enough attention to the race info. But I was glad it was a road run once I was a couple of miles in. I’ve raced in this park probably four or five times, all of which were trail races, and doing trail races here is sublime. Well, maybe not sublime, but it’s worth a few hours drive. Doing the road course here means you don’t get to see waterfalls and have water crossings, but it is still a decent course. Few cars, a lakeside run for part of the course, and it’s not a huge race so you don’t have to fight through crowds (if you are slow’ish, like me) in the first mile or two.
Parking was easy. They had toilets. Post-race food was okay (but not vegetarian), and the SWAG was all pretty average. Average is not bad, I just mean that it checks most of the standard boxes that races need to check these days – a metal, t-shirt, a few post-race snacks, and that’s about it.
Worth doing if you are within a few hours drive, but certainly not a destination race.
Short the distance
This race is not a full half marathon. My partner’s GPS clocked 12.2 and mine 12.4. The route was changed this year; however, this shortage was noted in reviews from … MORE
This race is not a full half marathon. My partner’s GPS clocked 12.2 and mine 12.4. The route was changed this year; however, this shortage was noted in reviews from previous years as well.
The course was run on paved bike paths, and we also shared the road with park traffic. There were rolling hills and a double loop course. The route was well marked, and water and Gatorade were available at the aid stations. Gel packets were provided around mile ten. Only one aid station on the second loop provided a trash can. We were instructed to throw our cups on the ground. Subsequently, cups were strewn along the route. No mile markers were posted.
This is a small race, which I prefer. The weather this year was perfect for running, and the scenery was beautiful.
Had a blast
Finish is up hill, so make the best out of you first mile. Weather was nice rain held off for a great day. Will run this one again for sure. MORE
Finish is up hill, so make the best out of you first mile. Weather was nice rain held off for a great day. Will run this one again for sure.
gorgeous race, not crowded
There are a few hills that you run several times, pavement and gravel on a trail. Packet pickup night before, long wait, but they were finishing up a prior race. … MORE
There are a few hills that you run several times, pavement and gravel on a trail. Packet pickup night before, long wait, but they were finishing up a prior race. Started a little late, but lots water, gatorade stops, cheering along the way. Not crowded so nice not always trying to pass people or other way around. Wish more goodies from sponsors. Would definetely do this one again for the location
Race is fine, but stay for the hiking!
This is a pretty low-frills race typically, and it is a double loop (which I like but most dont'). In years past, the age group awards were printed certificates, but … MORE
This is a pretty low-frills race typically, and it is a double loop (which I like but most dont’). In years past, the age group awards were printed certificates, but this year they were beautiful custom pottery mugs. The best part about this race is the opportunity to see the beautiful falls (after the race) and hike in this spectacular park. The sections that circle the lake are quite lovely.
Great course, needs better organization
The pros: This course is in a beautiful state park and the course is great. It is paved the entire way and parts are on a bike trail, other parts … MORE
The pros: This course is in a beautiful state park and the course is great. It is paved the entire way and parts are on a bike trail, other parts are on the road. You are on a lake part of the way, and it’s two loops for the half marathon. The aid stations were also spaced at about every mile or just over a mile, and there were five or six of them, so for the two loops you end up with an aid station every mile or so, for the full race. All of them had water and sports drink and a few of them had energy gels. I also appreciated that this was not a large race. The limit is 500 and I don’t think there were 400 runners across all race categories (5k, 10k, and half), which was nice. Nice run, honestly, and I would recommend this for those who are local’ish.
The course is hilly but not badly so. I normally run between 9:30 and 10:00 minute mile half marathons but for this one I ran 11:29 a mile. So you’ll run more slowly, but you’ll also enjoy the course.
The cons: There are several and for the die hard half marathoner this will NOT be a race you’ll want to do. First off, it’s not 13.1 miles. My Garmin said 12.44. My son’s Garmin said 12.92. And a lady in front of me turned around – just about 1/10 of a mile before the finish line – and ran back past me going the other direction, and then turned around again after I passed by her and ran to the finish with me. I asked her why she had turned around. She said her Garmin wasn’t reading that she’d run 13.1. She wanted the extra 2/10ths of a mile that her Garmin said she needed. This wasn’t a big deal for me, but for many it would be a dealbreaker.
I don’t organize races and I know it takes a lot of work. And a BIG thanks to all the volunteers and Boy / Girl Scouts that came out to volunteer. Loved seeing those kids out there. But there are a few things the organizers could do better to make it go more smoothly on race day. First of all, the address provided on the website is NOT EVEN INSIDE THE PARK. It was about a quarter mile outside the park gates. On the race website the organizers do provide the name of the place inside the park you should go, but when I looked that up and plugged it into Google Maps, nothing came up, nor did it come up on the Park’s own info site, not that I could find anyway. I wasn’t the only one, I had a line of cars following me as I turned around and wandered through various parking lots and roads to find the race. This is easy to fix.
Once I finally found the race, I had a hard time finding an empty parking space. It would be great to have a volunteer or two put an orange cone in full sections of the labyrinth of parking lots / roads that wind through the starting area. This could be remedied, and would help smooth the morning parking rush.
Next, I waited 15 minutes to pick up my packet and there were only about 10 people in front of me getting their race packets. It wasn’t because they had trouble with only one slow person, it was because the system was just clumsy and slow. Also easy to fix. Do it like other races do it. Have more people checking racers in, or just have envelopes instead of looking it up on a computer, or something. Never seen this go so slow at another race. I had to run my stuff back to my car and by the time I got back to the start line it was 10 minutes past the official start time. As a credit to the organizers they seem to have realized things were going a bit slow and they delayed their start time by about 15 minutes. I was grateful for that.
On the course I don’t recall seeing any port-a-poddies, although I could have missed them. The start / finish line also didn’t have any port-a-poddies, but they did have park bathrooms that were small and would be the equivalent of two portable bathrooms. Anyone who has waited in line for the porta at a race can tell you that two portables isn’t enough for most races. There wasn’t a line though, remarkably, which I attribute to the small size of the race. They may want to consider bringing a few in if they get many more racers in future years.
Lastly, it would be great if post-race snacks included chocolate milk or something with a better balance of carbs and protein. While I’m happy to fill up on Coke and Doritos, those don’t provide me with a healthy replenishment. This is also a simple fix. They did have bananas and granola bars as well, but only water and Coke to drink.
These cons might make you put you off of this race, but unless you are a die hard half marathoner who MUST have 13.1 miles, or unless you are traveling far and expecting the best race ever, then you should consider doing this race. I would do this race again and the nice course and Scout volunteers outweighed the shortfalls at registration, routing, and parking.