Annual Vol-State Road Race passes through West Tennessee – WBBJ-TV

CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. — Runners from all over the country take part of an ongoing race.

120 runners are racing across four states for the Vol-State Road Race.

“It’s a journey from Dorena Landing, Missouri to Castle Rock, Georgia. It’s 314 miles,” runner Christina Pierce said.

“We’ve been running, walking, crawling, sleeping on picnic benches since then,” runner Frank Sizemore said.

Pierce and Sizemore stopped in Parkers Crossroads, one of the many stops in the 500K.

They ran down Highway 22 from McKenzie, through Parkers Crossroads, Lexington and Parsons.

They say runners fit into two categories for the race.

“Some of the runners are what we call crewed, meaning they have a crew helping them out,” Pierce said.

The other category is called screwed.

“We find all of our own needs along the route for the 314 miles. We’re free to stay in hotels, go to restaurants, do what we have to do to stay out of the sun and take care of our own issues,” Pierce said.

For some runners, Vol-State isn’t their first marathon.

“I’ve been running now for about 20 years in long distance races. I’ve completed some long hundred mile races,” Sizemore said.

And for others, they’re new to the Vol-State experience.

“This is my first time, and it’s been a dream of mine for a long time. It’s a little difficult to get into this race, but I pulled it off and spent a year training,” Pierce said.

Some runners want to raise awareness for a cause, but some just want to test their skills.

“Life is pretty easy these days for most people, I would say. Even if you look back 100 years, life was much harder. It’s just a nice test of your metal,” Sizemore said.

The race lasts for the next four to ten days.

Categories: Local News, News