Old Hickory Fun Run Wrap Up: Nashville Scene And The Ultimate Pizza Party

For the second year in a row, the Old Hickory Fun Run hosted by the Tennessee Powerboat Club on Hickory Lake did not disappoint those who showed up for last weekend’s festivities. Chief organizer Chad Collier estimated that 70 to 90 boats (“I don’t have a final count yet,” he said) participated in the run on Saturday.

The event kicked off in a big way at the opening/welcome party Friday night at the Rock Bottom Brewery in Nashville. Collier secured permission for the club to display a performance boat—at 38-foot Marine Technology, Inc., catamaran owned by fellow club member Mark Godsey—in front of the party venue, which was a first for the downtown Nashville. The cat reportedly attracted hundreds of onlookers on the street. And hundreds more made their way into the party.

“We had more than 300 people in there,” Collier said. “We encouraged people to invite their friends, and our sponsors invited a lot of people too. At one point, we had to stop letting people in until people came out.”

Said Scott Sjogren of Pier 57 Marine, one of the event’s title sponsors, “It was elbow to elbow in there—you could hardly move. What a great party, what a great event and what a great turnout.”

Said Pier 57’s Scott Sjogren: “What a great party, what a great event and what a great turnout.” Photos courtesy Pier 57 Marine.

Collier and company had some fun in store for participants during the following day’s lunch raft-up on Drake Creek. Once all the cats and V-bottoms were rafted together, a center console boat and a pontoon pulled up to the fleet and their crews began handing out whole pizzas, courtesy of sponsor Jet’s Pizza, to each boat in the run.

“It was a nice touch—such a cool idea,” Sjogren said. “I hadn’t seen that before.”

Based on the success of the event this year and last, the club plans to organize the run again in early August 2015. “We couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out,” Collier said last night. “But I’m pretty tired now. It was a long weekend. I’ve got to get some sleep.”

Related story: Old Hickory Fun Run Expecting 75 Boats, Expanding Street Presence