I ran my first half marathon of 2017 in Strawberry Plains, TN on 2/4/17. This was my second time running this race (my first time was in 2015) and I enjoyed it so much more the second time around. In 2015, when I ran this course my overall pace was 8:51 and I finished with a chip time of 1:55:44, and Saturday I improved my time to 8:40 pace with 1:53:32 chip time. I was very happy to improve my time, especially considering how challenging this course is (it's challenging to me anyway). I ran with my Run Keeper on Saturday (first time ever in a race), so I had the lady on the app yelling at me every 5 minutes and it helped!
From what I can find this race has been running since 1998, and the Knoxville Track Club and various sponsors help make it happen every year. The race begins at Rush Strong School, and since I have been running has always started at 9:00 am. There is a 10k race that also runs with the half so it draws a decent crowd of runners, and a lot of people use it as part of their training for the Covenant Health Marathon. Both times the temperatures have been below freezing, and I think Saturday morning it was 22 or 24 degrees at the start. Thankfully, I have always warmed up really quick and been able to shed my gloves and head band by mile 4.
The cost of the race is $35 up until like two weeks before it runs, so for the price you can't beat it. You can pick up your packet one evening during the week before the race or before the race that morning. I live over an hour from these race and both time I have picked up my packet the morning before with no problems. With registration runners receive a shirt, medal (for half finishers), and they always have had plenty of food after the race. This year it was fruit, oatmeal, muffins, bagels, and drinks. The people who volunteer to help put the race on have always been awesome. There are multiple drink stations throughout the course and the volunteers are always out cheering the runners on. Honestly, the only complaint that I have ever heard about this race is that it's not headphone friendly because it's open to traffic. That has never been an issue for me though because I never run with headphones in anyways.
As far as the course goes there is a great YouTube video that you can watch that shows you some one drive through the entire course. The 10k part of the course is pretty flat and includes one minor hill on the way back, however the half is a different story. Starting between mile 3 and 4 you will start to run into some minor elevations, but you catch some down hill between mile 5 and 6. Miles 4-6 are my favorite (& the prettiest) parts of the course. You get to see some pretty farm land, run along side some horses & cows, and see some silos (the cows make me feel right at home). The real treat is between mile 7 and 8 when you climb a hill that feels every bit of a mile long (it's 1/4 to 1/3 I'm guessing). The first time I ran this course I hadn't been running hills at all and I felt like I was never going to make it up it. This time I was a little more prepared, but of course I feel like I could have ran some more hills. The down hill back though is so nice and after that you only have about two more minor elevations (but they are nothing compared that one).

This is definitely a race everyone should check out and try at least once. I will more than likely run this one again, especially if next year actually is their 20th anniversary! Lastly even though this is not a course where you will probably run your fastest half marathon, I like the challenge of trying to beat my previous course times.