The Bandit Run
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The Bandit Run is a re-enactment of the fictional journey portrayed in the 1977 film Smokey and the Bandit: Texarkana, Texas, to Atlanta, Georgia. It covers a distance of about 650 mi (1,050 km). Unlike the much longer east to west coast Cannonball Run challenge which started as a real race and was later portrayed in a movie: The Cannonball Run, the Bandit Run is a re-enactment of a movie. The first one occurred on May 15, 2007. It has become an annual event.
Since 2007, The Bandit Run has continued annually with routes varying each year. Later runs have included stops in states such as Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia, often attracting hundreds of vehicles and national media coverage.
The re-enactment was the brainchild of David Hershey and Dave Hall who wanted to commemorate the 30-year anniversary of the classic film. Hall, of the website, Restore a Muscle Car [1] and Hershey came up with the idea shortly after Hershey purchased his restored 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from him in 2006.