Tennessee Running Tour – Trail of Tears

The Trail of Tears 7 mile course starts and finishes at the lodge of the Red Clay State Historic Area, Cleveland. After a rolling downhill to the Georgia state line, a 260 feet uphill begins. Once at the top, the course is mostly downhill to the finish. Turn right on Lead Mine Rd at mile 2. Turn right onto Hwy 317 at mile 3. Turn right at mile 5 on Weatherly Switch, then right back on Red Clay Rd. Some minor rolling hills to the finish. An interesting course with one major hill and lots of frogs and cows along the way. In 2022 a pack of dogs followed the runners. The owner of a dog named Jackson had to be picked up in a pickup truck at mile 4.

Course History
The race was started in 1989 by Jim Ruth and Arnold Truelove. The first Running Tour race was held in 1991. Course design by Jim Ruth, who was the race director until 1996, when Arnold Truelove took over. He stayed on for 10 years when Jasen Parks became director. The course was originally a 5 miler and was run in the opposite direction. In 1993 some runners suggested it was better to have half a mile uphill followed by 4 miles downhill than the other way around. Three times the race was postponed a week because of snow. It was announced as a 7-miler, but the last mile was always a minute short. In 2009 the race was held without a race director. The first 10 runners failed to make the second turn and ran 7.3 miles. Judy White was the race director from 2010-2011. In 2012 race director was Matt Davies of Cleveland, TN. In 2013 James Zahn became the race director. He lengthened the course to 7.0 Miles by starting at the picnic shelter. Since 2017 Dan Smithhisler has been the race director. Roger Gall from 2024.