Crazy 8s name and course

Only just worked out where the course gets its name - it's a figure 8 course. of course! Was wondering if anyone has ran it before and how difficult the course is.

At one time the race was called the Fun Fest Midnight 5 Miler. As the name suggests it was a 5-mile race at midnight. In 1990, after several years of declining attendance, race organizers and sponsors got together and decided to revamp the race. They felt midnight was too late but they liked the late night atmosphere. 5 miles was a good distance but 8k was better since it was the official distance for record-keeping (8k = 4.97 miles). Since the distance changed to 8k, organizers decided to build a theme around 8s, thus the name Crazy 8s. The course was changed to a figure-8, and all starting times were "on the 8s." The 8k start was changed from midnight to 9:58 pm.

The rest is history!

Thank you! That explains something that's been driving me crazy!

Someone recently asked me if I'd run Crazy Eights before, and I told her that I had back in the 80s. She told me I must be mistaken since the race had only been held since 1990. I kept insisting that I distinctly remembered running a nighttime summer race in Kingsport for several years in a row in the mid 80s.

So, I'm glad to learn that my memory isn't as faulty as my friend had led me to believe!