NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The roads were packed on the day of the St. Jude Rock 'N' Roll Running Series, with both runners and drivers trying to get to their final destination.
"I've never seen the city this paralyzed before, I've never had an area of concern like I did today," said Kim Woodard, a party bus driver who was on her way to work when she got caught up in the marathon traffic.
She says she and other drivers were at a standstill for over two hours. She ultimately had to cancel bus tours.
"A lot of businesses lost money because of it," she said.
While her situation wasn't ideal, her main concern was for an emergency vehicle, also stuck on the road.
"Wonder if something happened to that patient or wonder if somebody had a medical emergency; the ambulance couldn't get to them. Wonder if there was a crime being committed, the police couldn't get there, wonder if there was a fire, firemen couldn't get there," she told us.
We brought Kim's concerns to the director of the race, Adam Zocks, who organized the very first Nashville marathon and came back to direct the 25th.
He told us the plan was the same as years prior and hopes Nashville understands the work that goes into creating an event like this.
"We have mailers that go out, emails go out...when we get phone calls, we answer them right away. We have a community relations person — that's all she does," he explained. "We do what we can to prepare people, and we just ask the same from the community. Have a little flexibility and patience on this one day."
Here's what to know for the rest of the weekend. There are shorter runs mid-day tomorrow at Nissan Stadium. 12 PM will be the Doggie Dash, 12:30 will be the one mile run, and 1 PM will be Kids Rock.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
My friend and colleague Carrie Sharp had a lot of fun last week, on an adventure to a country more than three thousand miles away! She’s back now – sharing her Adventures in Iceland through stories, and incredible images of this remarkably beautiful and unique island nation (kudos to Chief Photographer Catherine Steward)! But did you know Nashville has something very important in common with Iceland? Tourism! Here, Carrie explains how a volcanic eruption decades ago helped save the country’s economy from collapse!
-Rhori Johnston
