I used to live there. The rod runs were always a lot of fun with a family atmosphere. But over the past few years things changed. You had tons of underage girls flashing the crowd for beads. The sad part is I saw fathers with small children throwing beads to the girls. The businesses held several meetings with the Pigeon Forge Dept of Tourism and the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce to discuss possibly ending the Rod Runs. Many businesses started complaining that the crowds were not spending money in the shops and were taking up all of the parking spaces. Of course the hotels and restaurants do well but many of the other businesses suffer.