The Rock 'n' Roll Nashville course

Demonbreun to Broadway, then the turn onto 3rd Avenue South with the field still packed shoulder to shoulder. The road tips up before the mile is out, so treat these opening blocks as warmup and nothing else.

Up Demonbreun onto Music Row, past Music Square West and across Division. You are climbing now and you keep climbing well past the marker, so pick an effort you would be happy holding for another mile and a half.

Seventeenth and 18th Avenue South, then out Magnolia Boulevard. Biggest single-mile climb of the first half, and it lands before you are properly warm: run it by breathing, not by watch.

Belmont Boulevard past the university, then Portland Avenue. The road finally levels off, which is your first honest chance to settle into goal effort.

Clifton Lane and back onto Belmont, running downhill through quiet residential blocks. Let the legs turn over, but keep the stride short. There is a lot of course left.

Lealand Lane over to 12th Avenue South and Clayton Avenue. The grade turns against you partway through and does not stop at the mile marker, which is the pattern this course keeps repeating.

Twelfth South, shopfronts and sidewalk crowds, then out Wedgewood Avenue. Mildly uphill and easy to overrun because the noise pulls you along.

Wedgewood to 16th Avenue South and Magnolia, and the course hands back a big piece of what it took. Free speed, but this early you want to bank effort rather than time.

Division Street and Music Square East, downhill through Music Row a second time. The fastest stretch of road you will see all morning.

Eleventh Avenue through the Gulch and around 10th Circle North, still dropping. Enjoy it: this is the last of the genuinely easy miles.

North onto Rosa L Parks Boulevard and out of downtown. The road climbs most of the mile and keeps climbing past the marker, and a greedy first ten starts collecting its bill right here.

Rosa L Parks down toward Vantage Way, a long open descent on wide pavement. Good place to reset your rhythm before the quiet part of the course.

Great Circle Road and Cement Plant Road through MetroCenter, flat and industrial with very little to look at. Run the effort, not the scenery.

Cement Plant Road onto 2nd Avenue North and Madison Street, with halfway ticking past. Whatever the first thirteen cost you, the second half will ask for more, so be honest about the number on your watch.

Past First Horizon Park on Junior Gilliam Way and Rep. John Lewis Way, heading back into downtown. The road starts leaning uphill again on the way through.

Woodland Street and James Robertson Parkway, then the Woodland Street Bridge over the Cumberland. Level across the water, but the climb into East Nashville starts on the far bank and runs well past this marker.

Straight out Woodland Street into East Nashville. This is the biggest climb of the second half and there is no shortening it, so drop the pace and protect the effort.

Russell Street through Five Points and over to South 11th, gently downhill with the neighborhood tight on both sides. Take the relief without chasing it.

South 5th Street and Fatherland, dropping steadily through the old East Nashville blocks. Last generous downhill on the course, and worth spending a little on.

Davidson Street and South 5th, flat and open. Twenty miles in on a warm humid morning is where this race actually begins.

Sevier Street onto Davidson, still level. Nothing to hide behind here, so hold your form and get to the next marker.

A steep pull arrives inside this mile, sharper than anything since the opening climb out of downtown. Shorten the stride, keep the cadence, and do not do math while you are on it.

Shelby Park Road, where the net figure lies to you: the mile ends about where it started but there is a short, genuinely steep climb packed inside it, the sharpest grade on the whole course. Walk-break territory if you are going to take one.

Back onto Sevier and Davidson, pointed toward downtown with a gentle rise underneath. Two miles of work left, and by now the humidity has usually taken its cut.

Flat and familiar again on Davidson and South 5th. No plan left to make: pick a landmark ahead, run to it, then pick another one.

Russell and South 5th back onto Woodland Street, tilting slightly downhill toward the river. The course finally gives you a helpful grade, and the finish is close enough to spend everything you have.