This is an updated review as I have done this race twice now. This race has grown in size quite a bit since the last time I did it. I think there were around 280 runners the first time I ran it but now it is at almost 650 runners. It is the same out and back course and same hill that you run up. As I said in my last review you run past an alpaca farm. This year the alpacas were right up on the fence and a lot of runners hopped off course to snap a quick selfie. The swag for this year included a tech tank top, medal, and reusable nylon bag. Packet pick was available at two different running stores. You also need to get you timing chip day of the race on site, they are not in you bib. I know there were a couple people who did not understand this part and ran without one. Overall a good race, and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

The Thompson's Station Dog and Pony Show 5K is a trail run that weaves through the trails at Sarah Benson Park. It starts with the initial climb up to the water tower on a wide trail and then figure eights through the trails on a single track trail for the most part. The trail is mostly hard packed dirt with a few roots along the way, a couple spots of grass, and the first and last .10 on a road, there is about 400 feet of elevation gain over the course of the 5K. The good parts - There was plenty of parking (the race is before the festival opens), it's a cupless race, a small race, and a pretty course. The bad - The course was poorly marked and there was no course map provided before hand or at the race, we would come to intersections and then just guess which way to go. That stinks when you are running and have to come to a stop and guess which way you are supposed to go, just printing off a map and marking it at the check in/timing table would have been so much help. Looking at my Strava flybys, I can see that there were a couple different routes people took because of this, it was just confusing. Strangely enough all the women went one way and the men the other. The other unfortunate thing was the printing on the t-shirts came off in the first wash, I have never had that happen before.
All in all it is a real pretty course, I don't know if I will do it again, but maybe now that I know the course. You get a cotton tshirt with your entry and the Nashville Running Company was giving out discount codes leading up to the race so it was only about $15 to enter if you used them.

Doughboy Challenge is a nice race in downtown Murfreesboro. As others have said you get a tech shirt, a bag full of General Mills/Pillsbury products (box of breakfast bars, granola bars, and fruit snacks), and also a medal at the end. The course is pretty flat, you start on the downtown square and then head out to Oaklands Mansion and down towards MTSU and then back to the square. There are only about 5 turns on this course so you actually get to run for a bit, which is nice. The only bad part about this race is that they only announce the date about 2 months before, which means you may have already signed up for another one by then.

This is basically a race through the farm land at Stade's Farm so your scenery is the different crops and a couple silos. You also briefly pass next to some cows, but that is only less than .1 of a mile. I ran the 5K but was with a family member who ran the 10K. Packet pick up is the morning of the race, but they had plenty of volunteers there. For your registration fee you got a cotton shirt, a medal, and an all you can eat pancake breakfast after the race. There were 2 water stations on the 5K course and 4 on the 10K. The course for the 5K was basically flat and the 10K had one hill on it. The course was mostly on grass with some dirt roads, and because of the previous day's rain some unavoidable mud. This was also during a small heat wave in the area so the humidity was pretty high.

The only cons of this year's race were the weather, it had rained over night and the race was supposed to start at 8:00/8:15 but once we got there we started an hour later, if that is going to happen, just put it up on your fb page, maybe some people miss it but those that see it appreciate the heads up. The second con was although there were signs all over marking the course there was a section of the 10K that was unmarked and the aid station volunteers did not know what to tell people. Some ran an extra loop and some did not, I am always amazed when this happens, especially on a race that is in it's 5th year.

Race was through an out and back course through gently rolling hills on the Maryville College campus and a bit into the town. Course was well marked with volunteers/police and aid stations had both Gatorade and water at them. With your registration for the 5K, you got entrance into the Highland Games after the race, 2 beers, a cotton shirt, and a medal. If you ran in a kilt at the end of your race you also got a shot glass, about 30 people did. Parking was right on site and being on a college campus there was plenty of it. Packet pickup was done both the night before and the morning of the race. It is a pretty small race, but well organized, and I would do it again if I was in the area.