Oak Barrel Half Marathon

Runners who make their way to this beautifully scenic small town in the hills of southern Tennessee, located along the state’s Cumberland plateau, will get a chance to enjoy both its small-town charm and the irony that the county in which Jack Daniels whiskey is made and sold, Tennessee’s Moore County, is a dry county — which means also that while the whiskey can be made here, it can’t be sold by the bottle or the glass in its own hometown.

What that has yielded is some intriguing creativity on the part of local shop owners, cafes and restaurants, where you can see items on the menus like “whiskey coffee” and even “whiskey cheeseburgers” (I’ve actually enjoyed one of these on a years-ago visit to Lynchburg, and believe me, you don’t want to get behind the wheel after you’ve had one!).

The distillery itself is well worth a visit, as authentic Tennessee mountain men — complete with overalls and all — lead visitors on a tour of the distillery’s whiskey operations, where you can take in the sights, sounds and smells of real Tennessee whiskey.

Now all of that, of course, has little to do with the actual race, which organizers plan as an out-and-back race that takes runners both through the town of Lynchburg and along the tree-lined rural country roads that surround the town, with a route featuring plenty of green farm fields and the pastoral beauty of the rolling countryside of this part of Tennessee.

The course starts at the Lynchburg Courthouse Square, and runners will finish the race just a short stretch up Highway 55, at the Jack Daniels Distillery, where the race organizers plan to host both the post-race festivities and the event’s award ceremonies, where they will present awards both to the top three overall male and female winners as well as awards in several age group categories.

Just over 1,100 runners crossed the finish line in the half marathon in 2014. Runners also will have a course time limit of 4 hours.