November 8, 2026

Come Run, Come All to Dirt Circus Nashville!

The Dirt Circus is coming to Nashville, TN for the first time - we think it's the perfect way to celebrate the local trail community following the US Trail Running Conference November 5-7 at Nashville's Music City Center!

Dirt Circus is a series of free community events organized by UltraSignup to celebrate local races, and race directors. We are bringing together the local running community to share everything we love about trail running. The one-day festival will highlight local races, run clubs, brands, and other local businesses. The event includes a social run, food, a raffle with tons of prizes, camaraderie, and so much more. Come and join us under the big top.

For information on Dirt Circus events in other cities check out dirtcircus.ultrasignup.com + join our online community on Facebook!

Local Store Partner

In Partnership With:
We're excited to partner with Fleet Feet Nashville for Dirt Circus Nashville! Fleet Feet is your local source for hand-picked and trail-tested gear.

Dirt Circus Nashville Partners

Dirt Circus is a party to bring together the whole running community, not just runners, but also race companies, coaches, nutritionists, and running brands. See below for some of the partners who will join us in Nashville!

Are you a race director, run club, or other local run business that wants to be a part of the event? Fill out this form, we'd love to hear from you.

Sponsors


Running Stores


Race Companies

Faster For Foster Trail Run • Strolling Jim 40 Miler

Onsite Vendors
ACG Nike • Asics • Brooks • New Balance • Run Slick • Sole4Souls • Swiftwick • True Performance • Women Can. • and more!

Run Clubs
Black Men Run + TURF Nashville • Sin Miedo Trail Runners • and more!

Soles4Souls

Dirt Circus is partnering with to collect gently worn sneakers and help turn them into opportunities for people in need around the world. Bring your gently worn sneakers and drop them off at the Soles4Souls booth during the event. Your donation helps extend the life of your shoes and makes a difference beyond the finish line. Every mile can go further! To learn more, visit Soles4Souls.org.

Event Details

Location: Vaughn's Creek Cross Country Course at Warner Parks

Sunday, November 8, 2026
We are a CUPLESS event, so please bring your bottles for water refills. As much as we love our fur babies, NO DOGS allowed (except service animals) - thanks for understanding!

7:00-8:00am - Group Run Check-in
Give yourself time to check in, mingle, demo shoes, and get ready to run. Participants will receive a sweet UltraSignup branded "Shoe Bag Lite" upon check-in (while supplies last) and a surprise from AllTrails! And to help ramp up the fun, we are partnering with for our face decorating, glitter station!

8:00am - Group Run Starts
We will send runners out in waves every few minutes! Enjoy a casual 2.3 mile run with friends from the local run community. Feeling loopy - run 2 or even 3 loops for extra fun!

8:30-9:00am - Return from Group Run for the Festivities
Enjoy food, beverages, and the Dirt Circus Expo!

9:30-11:00am - Raffle, Expo, & Social Connections
Get excited for raffle prizes from brand partners, race entries, and cool swag & apparel! We'll have brand booths and tables set up around when you return from your run, whatever distance you chose. Talk to race directors, learn about local races, mingle with friends, learn about running shoes and apparel products, and maybe test out some hydration and nutrition brands!

Preorder Your Original Dirt Circus T-Shirt!
Each city on the tour gets its own exclusive design—only available for purchase during registration! Don’t miss out on the Nashville edition, with preorders closing Sunday, October 18, 2026. Plus, explore even more Dirt Circus swag available for purchase at checkout and see more UltraSignup gear via the store link

Route

The route will be marked, but we always encourage having it on your phone as well! Feel free to do 1, 2 or even 3 loops!

Event Parking

When you arrive at Vaughn's Creek XC Course (using the above location), one of our parking attendants will direct you to parking. See map below for general layout.

What is Dirt Circus?

Did you know that there are thousands of small local trail running events across the United States each year?

Our goal is to connect runners with races and with one another, to highlight race directors, running stores, coaches, and the other local businesses that make up the fabric of our trail running community. The best way we know how to do that is by going for a run together. This sport is a little wild and we like it that way, so come join the Dirt Circus with us.

Meet with race directors, find your next event, run with friends, win prizes and more. Think of it as a live and in-person version of ultrasignup.com, but even more fun.

Why a Circus? Once upon a time, ultrarunning looked a little different. The sport has its roots in pedestrianism, where people would gather under the big top and walk and run for sport. Bets were made, the limits were pushed, and popularity soared. So come entertain yourselves with us, under the metaphorical big top.

UltraSignup Store

Shop UltraSignup gear and apparel in the UltraSignup Store.

Event's current local time: 7:06 PM CT