Sadie Smith(MM12709) – I love Dolly Parton. Love her. I have loved her way back before it was cool to do so. So when my college friend, Nate Sweeney, posted about running the inaugural Dollywood half marathon, I rather over- enthusiastically jumped on that bandwagon. And much like Dolly herself, this morning was joyful and lovely.
There are some kinks that need to be worked out for future years, but it was such a FUN morning! The park director ran all three races (5k and 10k yesterday and half today), the volunteers were great, and the participants were all so, so friendly. There was a cover band playing all morning interspersed with some delightful, yet terrible, karaoke. Cinnamon bread on the course, tons of creative costumes, and you could stop and ride a couple roller coasters if interested.
Winning any race is cool, but winning at Dollywood was pretty damn special. (And there were bubbles! And confetti! It was awesome!) It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a race this much, and I would LOVE to run the fall edition on September 27th. If you are reading this and want to be part of my Dollywood posse, please reach out! You don’t even have to be a runner; this was a very walker- friendly event. You don’t even have to like country music, but it would be a little bit better if you did 🦋
Photo and Post Credit Sadie Smith
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