About the Dollywood's Light The Way 5k
The course runs at night through Dollywood during its Smoky Mountain Christmas festival, which means millions of lights are on around you as you run. Much of the route goes off park first, along the tram road, before turning back through the park to the finish. It is a road course, and the lights do most of the work of making it memorable.
There is a fun walk option for anyone not looking to run the full distance. No strollers are allowed on the course. Awards go to top finishers and must be collected in person at the event.
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Dollywood's Light The Way 5k 2025 Results
Going by the 2025 results, this is a decent-sized field, and the spread of finish times is wide, so this is a mostly recreational race rather than one for club runners.
5K Results · 2025
991finishers
18:31winner
40:12median
12:45:34cutoff
Top 3: Blake Deterding (18:31) · Zanelle Willemse (19:20) · Josh Booher (19:21)
The Dollywood's Light The Way 5k has been held every year since at least 2022. That is as far back as RunSignup's records for this race go, so it may well be older.
How we calculate these stats: RunSesh calculates these figures from the most recent published results of past editions, sourced from RunSignup. We show aggregates only: field size, winning and median times, and the cutoff. We never publish individual finisher tables. Last updated Oct 25, 2026.
Distances & Start Times
5K11/13/2026 23:00$50
Dollywood's Light The Way 1 Mile Fun Walk11/13/2026 23:20$50
Dollywood's Light the Way 5K- Virtual11/13/2026 23:00$55
Dollywood's Light The Way 1 Mile Fun Walk- Virtual11/13/2026 23:00$55
Going for a Time?
Set a goal and get a pace band: every mile split on a card sized for your phone lock screen, so race morning needs no math.
Not sure what to aim for? The 5K pace chart lists the pace for every finish time.
Where to Stay
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