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Even competing Realtors can run together! Me & my bff Jen Mason of Crye-Leike Realtors

What separates this race from any other 5K race you wonder? Try throwing a big ‘ole party a few nights before the race kicks off at the Packet Pickup Party in the Gulch. Try holding a costume contest during the race itself. Have you ever run 3.1 miles with a Prince impersonator? A California Raisin? A rhino? Also, try having the not-so-typical main sponsors be SKYY Vodka and Michelob Ultra. Not to mention your race freebies – free martini glasses and drinks from SKYY Vodka and free beer from Michelob Ultra! THIS is surely a race after-party you do NOT want to miss out on!

The race is located in the Midtown area of Nashville and runs through downtown Nashville’s music row area and starts at 4:30pm sharp. And, don’t forget – there are prizes for the best costumes and the top three finishers, both male & female. So, either way, if you’re here to run, here to party or here to laugh at everyone else’s expense, make your way down to this amazing race the afternoon of September 22nd!!! At the very least, you might catch a glimpse of yours truly dressed head to toe in costume…but, of course, you’ll have to show up to find out just what I’ll be!

Now, why would I blog about football? Considering that Nashville, Tennessee, lights up at the mere thought of anything SEC, I figured it could only be appropriate. This town crawls with football fans from all around the Nation every Saturday morning, noon and night. Not only does Nashville have a rising football team (Vanderbilt), but this city is also within a 6-hour drive of many, many other amazing schools like the University of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Tennessee and the University of South Carolina! Not to worry if you do not get to actually attend a game this year…the local sports bars downtown like Sam’s Sports Bar and Grill, Two Doors Down and Beyond The Edge are home for many sports fans every Saturday this fall and provide an amazing atmosphere for watching your favorite and most intense games!

So, grab yourself a cheap ticket or a great spot at one of our local sports bars and make the short trip to almost any major SEC football game this year! You are sure to be in for some amazing entertainment and one unforgettable experience. Nashville is SEC and Nashville knows football!

The fledgling Nashville Roller Girl league has been organized for over a year now and brings people from all walks of life together. You never know what you might see at the Nashville Fairgrounds during a bout. Yes that’s right; the games are called bouts for all you just now getting into the loop. Thus far, entertainment has included pregnant hula hoop girls, drags queens, Nashville ’s burlesque beauties and sideshow sweethearts, pillow fighting, and all girl rock bands clad in black attire.

Get your cheap thrills by catching the girls in action at their next home bouts set for October 20 th and November 10th. For more information, check the Nashville Roller Girl website at http://www.nashvillerollergirls.com/

Saturday, race day, started with an early, 4am home-cooked breakfast consisting of pancakes, yogurt and a banana. Hey now, a girl has got to have energy for later, right? Once we stuffed ourselves silly, we left home around 5am and headed downtown to the start line at West End Avenue right at Centennial Park. Much to our surprise, traffic heading into town was horrible and congested. I guess you can’t expect much when you try to cram over 30,000 runners and their families onto our Nashville interstates all at once. Finally, we made it to our meeting point in time to take our Team Rio group photo (soon to be seen in the next issue of Country Weekly magazine), take a long stretch and head to the start line.

Miles 1 through 5 were fairly easy for us until the rolling hills of Nashville kicked in. Running through the streets of downtown Nashville proved to be a bit difficult for the ‘ole ‘right foot, left foot’ routine after a while. We pushed through and trudged on and soon enough we hit the 11-mile mark! Those final 2.1 miles seemed to be the longest 2.1 miles I have ever ran in my life. They couldn’t come any slower, I promise you! Every bit of it was worth it when I rounded that final turn into our Tennessee Titan’s stadium where the finish line resides every year. It suddenly felt as if my legs and feet had not been running for the past 2 hours…they suddenly kicked in gear and I was sprinting before I knew it. I could see people pointing at me and I could hear people yelling and cheering for me, which truly encouraged me even further.

Crossing that finish line never felt so sweet. The tears came rolling down my face as I crossed under the big archway signifying ‘the end’ for four long months of training, early mornings and aching knees. I soon found my running buddy (this was her very first race ever) who was just a few steps behind me. We hugged and cried together for a few minutes and enjoyed what just happened. Overall, I was the 5,834th female to cross the finish line out of 18,000 entrants and the 1,545th to cross in my age group. I’m not complaining one bit and already can’t wait for next years’ race!