Nashville Women’s Half Marathon & 5K
Nashville, TN
- Half Marathon, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
On Sunday, September 29, 2019 Nashville, Tennessee will host the inaugural Nashville Women’s Half Marathon and 5K, finishing in First Tennessee Park! This women’s only half marathon and 5K event will showcase our rose gold finisher medals in both the Half Marathon and 5K events.
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Will NOT Run Any More PEM Races
Generic medal. No H2O station set up at MM 8 - it was over 90 degrees. One water station had empty water jugs. I used my cell phone to call … MORE
Generic medal. No H2O station set up at MM 8 – it was over 90 degrees. One water station had empty water jugs. I used my cell phone to call a friend who had finished the 5K. She found the RD, to relay my message that people were sitting on the ground and appeared to be heat casualties, because of the heat and lack of water. She begged him to get water to the runners. He was very dismissive and told her there was plenty of water. Absolutely untrue. And I never saw any race personnel checking on runners. Most of us were walking by mile 10… just trying to get to water. A long portion of this race was without shade. There was supposed to be gatorade at either one or possibly two water stops. No gatorade anywhere. Got a bottle of water and banana at finish line. I had to beg to get a second bottle of water. The medal was beyond generic. My friend got an email from the race Director a couple of days after the race supposedly accounting for all the screw ups in the horror story that was this race. I didn’t even get that – she had to forward her email to me. It was not an apology, and there were no discounts or anything offered as compensation for the terrible management of this race. The Facebook page for this race was flooded with negative reviews. All those negative reviews disappeared. Hmmm. I wanted to run the Mississippi Blues half marathon – but saw it has been taken over by Premier Event Mgmt. I checked out the reviews for that race on this page. Unsurprisingly, the reviews have tanked ever since management was taken over by PEM. I always check to see who is running a race. I will never ever run another event by PEM. The Nashville Women’s half marathon has the potential to be fun. Instead, it was a safety hazard. They can’t help that the weather was awful for a race. They should’ve been out there bringing more water out… Setting up extra water stations. Having bicyclists or golf carts follow the runners to check for heat cases. Actually manning the water stations instead of leaving water jugs here and there. I have run really hot or really cold races before. The mark of good management is that they anticipate and respond to weather issues. I wish the race I’ve been managed by another company.
Premier Event Mgmt still disappoints...
This is my second event completed with Premier Event Management, and the events are still really subpar in terms of organization. I continue to sign up for them because the … MORE
This is my second event completed with Premier Event Management, and the events are still really subpar in terms of organization.
I continue to sign up for them because the price is right (they have a tiered registration fee and I can usually buy a bib for under $50) and I really enjoy running the races. The courses are usually pretty decent, the medals are pretty, and the tech shirts are cool. If you are someone who is pretty self-sufficient and flexible about your races, and are just looking for cool women’s races in different states, I totally recommend!
This race was VERY fun because it ended through the top of the Nashville baseball stadium. The stadium itself was GORGEOUS, with sitting areas, ping pong, and different photo opps.
To give an idea of the lack of competency of the organizers, here is a snippet from my review of the March 2019 Durham Women’s half marathon:
“We were all lined up and ready to go when he announced that we would be delayed for a few minutes due to a truck blocking the route about 2 miles in. Then he provided an update that there was another hazard. This continued every couple of minutes, until the race began about 30 minutes late.”
…that was 7 months ago. Almost the same thing happened for this race, except I think we started only 15-20 minutes late this time.
For this race, it was 90+ degrees and they failed to set up and stock the Mile 8 water station in time for most of the runners to come through. While Gatorade was promised, none of the stops had it. One of the first water stops was just a folding table with a few gallon jugs of water sitting on it… unmanned, no cups.
Did I mention it was 90+ degrees outside, and the course was primarily out in the open with no shade anywhere? A few runners passed out unconscious, and there was rumor that one runner appeared to have hit her head pretty badly on the way down. Since there didn’t seem to be any med tents, EMT’s had to carry one of the runners down a steep grass hill to the ambulance after several runners had stopped to assist.
At the finish line, there was no clear way to get water or post-race beverages – while they were there in ice-filled tubs, there was no signage and seemed to be very few volunteers directing “traffic” of the finishers.
The post-race free beer was provided from an outdoor bar in the baseball stadium, and was the next step after runners finished the race, grabbed water/gatorade, and a few of the snacks provided. Unfortunately, the stadium staff (who were very kind and apologetic!) informed us that we were not allowed to bring ANY food into the stadium… so we had to choose between throwing out all of the post-race snacks or eating them before going into the post-race celebration area. It was kind of weird, and would have been better if this had been communicated in advance. Perhaps it was and I missed it… but I don’t recall.
A day or two after the race, the race director sent out a long email explaining all the reasons behind the issues – and instead of reading like an apology or offering any sort of compensation (there was no discount or coupon code, freebie, or promo for another race), it read just like a giant list of excuses. I may have felt sympathetic if I hadn’t already lived through something similar in March from the same company, but now it just seems like a trend.
These are all issues that could have been completely avoided with proper planning, anticipating, and securing of volunteers.
Again, I will continue to do these races because they are in neat, unique places and the courses have been different. I came prepared with my own GU’s and water, and was lucky not to face any medical issues during the race… so I was not negatively affected as much as others who expected to receive the support they were promised along the course. The race itself is enjoyable and fun, and it’s a shame that Premier Event Management seems to be understaffed and over its head. I am also signed up for the Alpharetta Women’s Half in November, so stay tuned!