Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon

Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon
Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon
Date	April
Location	Nashville, Tennessee
Event type	Road
Distance	Marathon, half marathon, and 5K
Primary sponsor	St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Established	2000
Course records	Men: 2:12:55 (2000); Luke Kibet; Women: 2:28:06 (2003); Irina Bogachova
Official site	Official website

The Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon, previously known as the Country Music Marathon (2000–2015), is an annual marathon, half marathon, and 5K run that has been held in Nashville, Tennessee since 2000. The route begins on Broadway and continues along many of Nashville's sights, including Bridgestone Arena, the Nashville Symphony, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Union Station, Music Row, Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Belmont Mansion, the Tennessee State Capitol, Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, First Tennessee Park, the Cumberland River, and Shelby Park, before ending outside Nissan Stadium.^[1]

The marathon was first held in April 2000 when 3,230 men and 2,589 women completed the event. As popularity for the event grew, a half-marathon was added in 2002. This was soon followed by the addition of a kids marathon. A 5k run was added to the race options as well as wheelchair versions of marathon, half-marathon, and 5k races. The number of participants in the 2008 event exceeded 30,000 total entrants. Unlike some of Nashville's other marathons, e.g. Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon and Greenway Marathon, the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon is a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon.

Band stages featuring live musical entertainment are located along the course. Many bands and high school cheerleaders entertain runners and walkers, and friends, families, and neighbors join in cheering on participants. The marathon is followed by an evening concert which has previously featured Sara Evans, Phil Vassar, Jo Dee Messina, Brad Paisley, and Lee Roy Parnell among others.

Past winners

Key: Course record

Edition	Year	Men's winner	Time (h:m:s)	Women's winner	Time (h:m:s)
1st	2000	Luke Kibet (KEN)	2:12:55	Lucia Subano (KEN)	2:37:02
2nd	2001	Christopher Cheboiboch (KEN)	2:13:27	Aurica Buia (ROM)	2:34:40
3rd	2002	Jackson Chebet (KEN)	2:18:59	Aurica Buia (ROM)	2:35:58
4th	2003	Jomo Kororia (KEN)	2:12:56	Irina Bogachova (KGZ)	2:28:06
5th	2004	Luke Kibet (KEN)	2:14:11	Anuța Cătună (ROM)	2:33:36
6th	2005	Nephat Kinyanjui (KEN)	2:15:38	Irina Safarova (RUS)	2:33:53
7th	2006	Feyisa Tusse (ETH)	2:15:06	Tatyana Mironova (RUS)	2:36:51
8th	2007	Simon Wangai (KEN)	2:13:52	Olena Shurkhno (UKR)	2:37:52
9th	2008	Sylvester Chebii (KEN)	2:14:27	Svetlana Ponomarenko (RUS)	2:30:33
10th	2009	Amos Tirop Matui (KEN)	2:13:41	Tatyana Pushkareva (RUS)	2:36:44
11th	2010	William Najanjo (COL)	2:15:38	Ilsa Paulson (USA)	2:33:39
12th	2011	David Kellum (KEN)	2:17:40	Ruby Milena Riativa (COL)	2:49:59
13th	2012	Ryan James (USA)	2:32:47	Erin Sutton (USA)	2:54:16
14th	2013	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:22:41	Jill Horst (USA)	2:57:51
15th	2014	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:25:51	Jeannette Faber (USA)	2:47:32
16th	2015	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:23:33	Melanie Kulesz (USA)	3:04:28
17th	2016	Scott Wietecha (USA)	2:25:42	Melanie Kulesz (USA)	2:59:09