This was the 9th running of the Race For The Summitt, with a 5k length instead of the more quirky 4 mile length. Everything was improved from last year - … MORE
This was the 9th running of the Race For The Summitt, with a 5k length instead of the more quirky 4 mile length. Everything was improved from last year – safe and scenic course, all along the Knoxville greenway, no roads to cross – out and back to the Vet Med campus from Tyson Park. Packet pickup was morning of the race and they processed a large amount of runners well before the start time. The race made use of a right sized pavilion that would have been handy had the hurricane rain reached this far.
The Lady Vols Basketball team was on hand to meet and greet and pose for photos. The swag was a nice short sleeve tshirt with the year and race slogan, a comfortable cotton/synthetic blend. There was a silent auction that added some pre and post race entertainment, and again, coffee – perfect for a morning race.
This was a perfectly set and produced 5k for a cause, I am looking forward to next year already.
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Go Lady Vols! & Pat Summitt Foundation
This was the 9th running of the Race For The Summitt, with a 5k length instead of the more quirky 4 mile length. Everything was improved from last year - … MORE
This was the 9th running of the Race For The Summitt, with a 5k length instead of the more quirky 4 mile length. Everything was improved from last year – safe and scenic course, all along the Knoxville greenway, no roads to cross – out and back to the Vet Med campus from Tyson Park. Packet pickup was morning of the race and they processed a large amount of runners well before the start time. The race made use of a right sized pavilion that would have been handy had the hurricane rain reached this far.
The Lady Vols Basketball team was on hand to meet and greet and pose for photos. The swag was a nice short sleeve tshirt with the year and race slogan, a comfortable cotton/synthetic blend. There was a silent auction that added some pre and post race entertainment, and again, coffee – perfect for a morning race.
This was a perfectly set and produced 5k for a cause, I am looking forward to next year already.
Nice run, great cause
This was the 8th annual Race for the Summitt 4-Miler, which benefits the Pat Summitt Foundation, fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Pat was there for the early races after her diagnosis with … MORE
This was the 8th annual Race for the Summitt 4-Miler, which benefits the Pat Summitt Foundation, fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Pat was there for the early races after her diagnosis with the disease.
The odd 4 mile distance maybe a play on words “Race 4 for the Summitt”? I haven’t found out but that occurred to me about mile 2. The course was scenic, along the Tennessee River and through the UT Knoxville campus. It starts and ends at Pat Summitt Plaza. My watch had 112 ft of ascent. There was one hill at the Ag campus bridge, otherwise it was pretty flat.
The production was off on this race. I hate to say it, given the race namesake’s importance and the nice student organization hosting it, but it was long on enthusiasm and short on practicality. We ran on Neyland Drive, 4 lanes, 40 mph speed limit and no lanes were closed. Luckily there is a greenway running along side and most of the runners chose that eventually. But if nothing else, even if no one is hurt, pedestrians out in traffic are sure to irritate drivers. I didn’t see one course marking – cones, chalk anything. There were police at some turns but directing runners is not their job, and oddly the lanes were not closed, so after a driver drove around the police car with flashing lights, we were all out in the same road. The finish line was 25 yards away from the main campus street, kind of hard to stop momentum at times and not shoot out on the street. Maybe the hope was that early Sunday morning traffic would be sparse? I don’t know, but the dynamics of the event didn’t come close to the reputation of the namesake.
Swag was a high quality cotton blend tshirt and a silicon wrist band. There were bananas and other typical things afterwards, and even coffee – a nice high point to end the review with.
Funny thing is I would run this again, it’s local and Pat Summitt was great. I just hope a few things are improved next time. Bottom line, nice to be out there and thanks for putting the race on.