Murfreesboro’s Inaugural Hops Half Marathon set forOctober 24 at Hop Springs
Registration is open now.
New for 2026: Family 1-Mile Fun Run, official training groups with Fleet Feet and TOA Westlawn, and support from sponsors including Tennessee Orthopedic Alliance, Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford, The Webb School, Hunt Pools and Swim, Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate. and Dr. Michael and Katie Jordan.
The Hops Half, Murfreesboro’s inaugural half marathon presented by TOA, is set to take off on October 24, 2026, at Hop Springs Beer Park, followed by a family-friendly festival running throughout the day. The challenging 13.1-mile course winds through the Rutherford County community before finishing at Hop Springs, where every runner is rewarded with a complimentary beverage (beer or soda) at the finish line. The race will also include the Family 1-Mile Fun Run and a virtual half-marathon.
Race founder, April Davis, said she wanted to bring back the half-marathon format to the Murfreesboro running community and found a natural partnership in Hop Springs. Each year, the race will benefit a local charity. For its inaugural year, The Hops Half has named the Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford and Cannon County (CAC) as its beneficiary, an organization that provides advocacy, justice, and healing to child victims of abuse and sexual abuse and their non-offending family members.
“The CAC has completed a successful Capital Campaign for their new building, but tripling their space means a significantly increased operating budget,” said Kristin Demos, race media and marketing director. “The need for their services is only growing, and we want to help bridge that gap.”
For Davis, the race is also deeply personal. What began as a way to cope with the unexpected loss of her father evolved into something much larger. She found a daily running group, and it was on those early morning miles that the idea for The Hops Half began to take shape.
“This race will always benefit a local charity each year, but for me personally, it will always be a way to remember and honor my dad,” said Davis. “That’s where the tagline came from, Miles with Meaning.”
Presenting Sponsor and Community Partners
The Hops Half is proud to announce TOA as the race’s Presenting Sponsor. The event is further supported by a growing list of local sponsors, including Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford, The Webb School, Hunt Pools and Swim, Bill Taylor Bushido School of Karate, and Dr. Michael and Katie Jordan, among others.
Train for the Inaugural Half with Local Running Partners
To help runners prepare for race day, Fleet Feet is launching a training group ahead of the Inaugural Half Marathon, and TOA Westlawn will start its own dedicated training group as well. Both programs are designed to guide runners of all experience levels through race-ready training in the months leading up to October 24. Race organizers say to keep an eye on their social media pages for updates on the training groups.
For more information and to register, visit http://tiny.cc/hopshalf.
