Tear Drop Half Marathon, 10K & 5K 2027 — Chatsworth, GA

Lace up your sneakers, lean forward and get ready for the 13th Annual Tear Drop Half Marathon! If you’re looking for a fast and scenic half marathon then join us on Sunday, April 25, 2027! In 2026 we had a record crowd at over 600 participants! The 5K sold out and was close to selling out the other distances as well. Remember to sign up early and invite your running friends to join you on the Race Down the Mountain! All distances will start on top of Fort Mountain at an elevation near 3000 feet and finish in Chatsworth, Georgia, for an over 2000-foot drop for the Half Marathon. All courses (13.1, 10K, 5K) are USAT&F certified for those participants that are looking to set a personal record or for a qualifying time at a race elsewhere. Chatsworth is 80 miles from Atlanta, 40 miles from Chattanooga and 10 miles from Dalton. The courses are on all paved roads and features 7 miles of 5-10% grade downhill for the 13.1, 5 miles downhill for the 10K and 2 miles for the 5K (which will improve your time :40- 1:20 per mile!) and then a flat to rolling finish. Again, this year the Half Marathon will run an out and back on top of the mountain, which runners will encounter several climbs (it's not all downhill). The scenic route through the Cohutta Wilderness Area and finishes at beautiful City Park in Chatsworth welcomes racers of all abilities. In addition to the half marathon 10K & 5K, there will be plenty of extras for the runners! Beautiful CUSTOM medals for all event finishers and every participant will receive a short sleeve t-shirt, in addition to live music, post-race hot food, cold drinks; beer for 21 and over participants! There will also be great raffle prizes for all participants! Please note: 7:30 am start time for the Half, 8:05am for 10K, 8:15am for the 5K. PARKING at FINISH (private shuttles to the start) RUNNERS PARK AT THE FINISH AND ARE SHUTTLED TO THEIR SPECIFIC RACE START LOCATION ON TOP FT. MTN! FINISH- City Park- 401 N. 2nd Ave Chatsworth GA 30705. Parking around the park and adjacent business parking lots. There are beautiful permanent bathrooms behind the stage at City Park and a new building with additional bathrooms has been added too! Half runners can get dropped off at their start on Ft. Mnt but your ride can't park at the Inn and can’t head westbound down Hwy 52 after 7:25am. Sorry no personal vehicle drop off at the start for 10K and 5K, you must use bus service. RACE START Half marathon starts 7:30am a top Fort Mountain (Overlook Inn 9440 Hwy 52, Chatsworth). The 10K and 5K start at lower points on Ga Hwy 52, which runners will be shuttled to also. BIB TSHIRT PICK-UP/REGISTRATION ( NO MORNING OF RACE REGISTRATION . MUST SIGN UP ONLINE BY SATURDAY OR BEFORE SELLS OUT) At City Park Pavilion: Saturday, 4/24 from 2pm until 5pm. We will also allow for race registration/sign-up, race (distance) transfer and bib/t-shirt pick-up, Sunday 4/25 of the race from 6:00:am-7:00am for the Half and 7-8am for the 10K/5K. Note: Saturday Dinner options in Chatsworth (for out of towners). Little Rome Pasta is now in downtown Chatsworth. Show your bib# and receive 10% off dinner. SHUTTLE BUS We’ll have buses making multiple round trips from City Park to Ft. Mnt starting at 6:00am. From the finish to the start for the Half is about 20-25 minute bus ride to the top of Fort Mountain, the race starts at a scenic overlook across from the Overlook Inn. Portable bathroom rooms will be across the street near the start and at 10K and 5K starts too. If you want to warm-up before the race use caution running on the roads. HWY 52 This is a state highway and does have a few driveways and the Fort Mountain State Park entrance. Runners will have access to 1 lane (westbound direction of traffic) and must stay to right side of the cones. There may be oncoming traffic so please don’t go outside (left side) of the cones! Cars are not allowed to travel in the running lane but may “sneak” in so you may have to move to shoulder for them to pass. There will be Murray County Sheriff at several locations to stop and turn around any unauthorized vehicles traveling in our permitted lane of traffic. We’ve done our diligence to alert local residence of our permitted road race and hopefully they’ve planned accordingly. SAG VEHICLE We’ll have a passenger vehicle following the last runner in case anyone needs to drop out or needs medical attention. We need to keep pace on Hwy 52 (the downhill portion) and if a runner is going too slow (13:00/mile) we may ask for you to ride in SAG. However, once in the city of Chatsworth (flat, rolling hills) if a runner falls off pace we may ask that they move onto the sidewalk but still be allowed to finish the race. Our GDOT road permit on Hwy 52 is only allowed for 3 hours. WATER STOPS & BATHROOMS Each distance will have bathrooms at their start area! There will be 4 water stations for the Half and 2 for the 10K and 1 for the 5K. Half- Miles: 4, 7, 10 and 12. We'll have 8oz water bottles at some and pap