MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WTVF) — For more than 15 years the Murfreesboro Half Marathon has been a fixture in the community inviting thousands of runners to lace up their sneakers and go the distance.
A marathon of emotions is how board member Melinda Tate describes the moments leading up to the Middle Half Marathon's countdown.
"On race day, just seeing the crowd of people that show up. It's one thing to see the numbers on a piece of paper, but to actually see that many people in person at the starting lines, it's emotional," Tate said.
Melinda says the birth of the event was a family affair that happened on their drive home from Myrtle Beach.
"All the way back home we thought we had planned everything we needed to do to start a half marathon and wrote everything down in the back of our hotel receipt," she said.
And now 15 years later, it's hard to believe how much the event has grown.
"We've received so many emails from people who said it was good to have a goal, otherwise they'd still be just sitting on their couch watching TV, but to have that goal gave them a reason to get up and start moving," she said.
But earlier this year Melinda's husband and co-founder of the half marathon in Murfreesboro, Miles Tate, died weeks before competing in the Vermont marathon.
"He had coronary artery disease, which he had no idea. The Saturday before, he ran a 19-mile training run and that Sunday he was out doing yard work, and then Monday he passed away in his sleep," she said.
Throughout his life, Miles completed 50 marathons and helped countless people start their running journey.
After much deliberation board members of the half marathon have decided to end the event after this year's race on Oct. 8.
"We've been talking about it for about a year. We knew it was going to happen we just didn't know when," Tate said.
But as the finish line approaches there is no doubt that people will continue to feel the impact Miles left behind.
If you're interested in running the half marathon, the entry fee is $75 dollars.
If you want to sign up, you can do so HERE.
