The US Trail Running Conference runs November 5 to 7, 2026 at Music City Center, 201 Rep. John Lewis Way South. Registration closed on October 22, 2026 and the $209 Tru by Hilton block ran to October 21. The published clock sets the shape of the day: doors open at 9:00 AM Thursday and closing remarks end at 3:00 PM Saturday. The laptop hours sit outside that block.
What the three days actually clock
Thursday begins with registration and welcome coffee from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. Opening remarks take 10:00 to 10:30, panels run through the 3:00 to 3:30 PM end-of-day highlights, a group activity fills 3:30 to 4:00, and the welcome mixer with the expo runs 4:00 to 6:00 PM.
Friday starts earlier for runners. An optional group run leaves Music City Center between 7:00 and 8:30 AM. Registration and coffee reopen 9:00 to 10:00, the Paul Mellor interview with Lazarus Lake holds the 10:15 keynote, breakouts run to 2:30, the expo sits open 2:30 to 3:00, Trailside Chats take 3:00 to 5:00, the day recap runs 5:00 to 5:15, and the Lazarus Lake film screens 5:15 to 6:30 PM.
Saturday opens at Shelby Park with a 6:30 or 7:15 group run that ends at 8:30. Registration runs 9:00 to 10:00, sessions run from the 10:15 panel through the 2:15 keynote, and closing remarks run 2:15 to 3:00 PM.
The free desk at 707 Demonbreun Street
Fresh Pick Market + Café holds 2,500 square feet of street-level space on the northwest corner of the building, at 8th Avenue and Demonbreun Street in SoBro. Hours run 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Saturday, and 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Sunday. The outlet serves made-to-order breakfast, lunch and dinner, grab-and-go snacks and drinks, a coffee bar, local beers and souvenirs, with outdoor seating that includes a shaded terrace and fire pits. Two conference gaps fall inside that clock: Thursday 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., and Saturday 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. after the closing remarks.
Day-use windows that match the gaps
The hotelSlots directory lists 222 Nashville properties for short-stay booking. The rates below come from a Dayuse read of the Nashville market on 24 October 2026: 36 priced cards from $66 to $170, mean $101.04, with booking fees of $0 to $10 already inside each rate. Every distance is straight-line from the Music City Center pin.
For Thursday before the doors: Best Western Plus Executive Residency Nashville, 2401 Brick Church Pike, sells a 7:00 to 14:00 window at $66, 3.62 miles from the hall. Sonesta Select Nashville Airport Suites, 1100 Airport Center Drive, sells 7:00 to 13:00 at $81, 6.45 miles out. Courtyard by Marriott Nashville Green Hills opens 7:00 to 13:00 at $91, 4.01 miles out.
For Friday afternoon: Best Western Plus Music Row, 1407 Division Street, sells 10:00 to 18:00 at $112, 0.71 miles from the hall. That window covers the 3:00 to 5:00 chats and the first 45 minutes of the film. Holiday Inn Express Nashville Downtown – Broadway, 920 Broadway, sells 10:00 to 17:00 at $115, 0.35 miles out. The Nashville Reserve, by Oliver, sells 10:00 to 18:00 at $160, 0.60 miles out.
For the Saturday 3:00 PM close: Hampton Inn Nashville / Vanderbilt sells 17:00 to 23:00 at $85, 1.19 miles from the hall. The Nashville Reserve sells 16:00 to 23:00 at $160, 0.60 miles out. Homewood Suites Nashville Vanderbilt, 2400 West End Avenue, sells 17:00 to 23:00 at $148, 1.70 miles out.
The garage has no in-and-out
The Music City Center garage holds 1,800 spaces across three levels at 701 Demonbreun Street, with primary access at 7th Avenue and Demonbreun and auxiliary access along 6th Avenue. Rates run $15 for 0 to 5 hours, $20 for 5 to 9, $25 for 9 to 12, $30 for 12 to 18, $45 overnight, $45 for a lost ticket. There is no in-and-out on the same ticket and no trailer parking. Special event rates may apply and are posted at the entrance. Twelve ChargePoint stations sit four to a level, and accessible spaces sit next to the elevators on each level, first come first served.
A conference day from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. is ten hours, which lands in the $25 band. Leaving at lunch to reach a room and returning pays a second entry, so a midday room only pays off at walking distance. That is the case for the 0.35-mile and 0.71-mile cards.
Twelve tables, six visits, twenty minutes each
Friday Trailside Chats fill 3:00 to 5:00 PM with twenty-minute conversations across twelve tables: Runner Safety with Free to Move, Trail Community Engagement with Oscar Camejo, Sustainability with Tina Muir, Runners for Public Lands with Kathleen Baker, To Swag or Not to Swag, Finding and Keeping Volunteers, Landing and Keeping Sponsors, AI for Race Directors, Race Marketing, When Things Go Wrong, Everyone Belongs, and an Open Table on what is keeping people up at night. Each participant chooses six. Twenty minutes carries one topic and one follow-up. The 2:30 to 3:00 expo hour before it is the last window to answer email before the day runs to the 6:30 PM film.
The order to book
Fix the flight, then the window, then the garage. A Friday arrival that clears by 8:00 a.m. fits the 10:00 to 18:00 window on Division Street and turns the hall into a walk instead of a second parking entry. A Saturday departure after 6:00 p.m. fits the 17:00 to 23:00 window on West End Avenue. That window covers closing remarks through a shower before the airport. Within a mile of the hall, the earliest window opens at 8:00 a.m. at The Nashville Reserve on Demonbreun, so a Thursday 7:00 a.m. start belongs to a card three miles out or to the café.
Dirt Circus, the Sunday 8:00 AM run at Warner Parks, stays free with registration open until November 8.
