starting on broadway: what it feels like to run past the honky-tonks

By PaceKit Team · Updated April 2026

The Rock 'n' Roll Nashville Marathon starts at 8th and Broadway, in the heart of Music City. When the gun goes off, you run directly down Broadway, the street lined with the neon-lit honky-tonks that define Nashville's identity. The bars are closed at 7:00 AM (barely), but the neon is on, the crowds are deep, and the street that normally holds bachelorette parties and pedal taverns is holding 25,000 runners instead.

Broadway shuts down for you. That's not a metaphor. The entire strip, from the Bridgestone Arena to the Cumberland River, is closed to traffic and lined with spectators. The first mile of the Nashville Marathon is one of the most photogenic and emotionally charged openings in American road racing. You're running past Tootsie's, past Robert's Western World, past the Country Music Hall of Fame, with the morning light hitting the neon signs and the crowd noise echoing off the buildings. Some years, bands are already playing at the aid stations along Broadway. Other years, the energy comes from the spectators alone. Either way, the opening mile is the moment you'll remember.

The problem with starting on Broadway is also the opportunity: the energy is so high that your first mile will be too fast. Every Nashville race report mentions this. The adrenaline of 25,000 people, the Broadway atmosphere, and the slight downhill toward the river conspire to push you 15 to 30 seconds per mile faster than your plan. On a hot day (and Nashville in late April is often hot), that's a mistake you'll feel for the next 25 miles.

The advice: soak it in. Look around. Take a photo. Let the Broadway mile wash over you. And then, when you turn off Broadway and head into the neighborhoods, settle into your actual pace. The honky-tonks gave you the memory. The rest of the course has to give you the finish.