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Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 4.1 
Spectators 3.7
Number of comments: 362 [displaying comments 101 to 111]
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G. D. from Roseburg, Oregon
(4/27/2010)
"Great Race - Will Recommend" (about: 2010)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was race 69 for me and it is close to being a 5-star race. Course is average of the ones that I have run. Support along the course was very good. One general suggestion I have applies to other races I have done in the last couple of years. I traveled across the country to run the Kentucky Derby Race. Looking at the shirt (great artwork), Wal-Mart's name was larger than the name of the race. I appreciate Wal-Mart's support of the event, but I don't appreciate running 26.2 miles and being an advertisement for a sponsor with the name of the event so small that a person would have to be inches from the shirt to read it. Whew! I feel better having said that. | |
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R. F. from Georgetown, Indiana
(4/26/2010)
"Good marathon, but needs improvement" (about: 2010)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my first marathon. I have run 8 half-marathons and have volunteered at several marathons. The course was pretty and challenging. The crowds were great the first 10.5 miles. Then the marathoners split from the half-marathoners. The crowds were almost nonexistent until the final mile of the race. There were not enough water stops for the marathoners, especially in the later miles. The mile markers in the later miles seemed to be about a half-mile off. The last mile had way too many turns, and the finish area was confusing and made it hard for families to meet up directly afterward. Thank you to the people in Jeffersonville who had fresh fruit and water they were handing out from their home, and the guy around Cherokee park with a list of bib numbers and names - he called everyone by name and cheered them on. It was a great boost. Overall, not a bad race. Beautiful scenery and a nice medal. | |
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C. W. from Milford, OH
(4/26/2010)
"Marathon is better than its attendance" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was number 18 for me. My time was just under 4 hours. I really enjoyed this race. The course was easy to navigate, with plenty of fluids, a although a little low on port-o-lets on the course, it was doable. I know the mini-marathon is the main attraction, but the marathon course was very beautiful, and fair. Yes, there were some hills, but it sure felt good to use other muscles from the long, flat running in the middle of the race. The expo was nice; the line to the buses moved quickly. The announcements about where to go after getting off of the buses (to the bag check and port-o-lets) were well done. The corrals worked well. I never felt lost. The spectators and volunteers were great, and traffic control was great. I would definitely recommend this marathon to anyone. Great job, Louisville!!! | |
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G. B. from Lexington, KY
(4/26/2010)
"Decent race, poor organization and signage." (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 The course was challenging, which is great! The downside of the new course is the added milage across the bridge in IN. This part of the course was very boring and had zero crowd support. I enjoy the scenery in the parks but the new start being closer to Iroquois Park did not provide enough time for the crowd to thin out before bottlenecking onto the park path. Also, the signage at the start was terrible. There were two people telling everyone where they were to go for the starting line and gear check, and if you didn't need to use the restroom before the race you would have missed any opportunity for water, as the only location was at the port-o-potties over behind the gear check. There should have been some information about the starting line arrangements in the packets we were given at check-in. The corrals were a mess; nobody knew where they were supposed to be and this added to the crowding and walkers being in the wrong location at the start. All of this was compounded as everyone converged on the park path into Iroquois. Post-race was alright; the extended area allowed the crowd to thin as they had access to the refreshments, but at the same time the refreshments could have been located a little closer to the finish line. | |
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R. D. from Cincy
(4/26/2010)
"Got bigger, but definitely not better." (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 If you're looking for a fun half-marathon and don't care about your pace/time, this one is for you. But for those full marathoners who care about running a solid race (pace and time)... beware! Very difficult to do that in this one (course is challenging and organizers pushed the max number of people too high). Some glaring problems that really should be addressed: -lack of mile markers -poor start area (and first 3 miles)... very clogged... simply cannot handle 15,000 runners. -lack of port-o-potties -sloping/pot-holed road in Indiana -finish area very long... cannot exit Other notes: - 1,000 - 2,000 thousand full marathoners; 13,000 - 14,000 thousand half marathoners - shirt design was poor - expo, ho-hummmm - no packet pick up on race day - if you're from out of town, you better plan accordingly! Some pros; - nice, challenging course (hills, bridge, Churchill Downs, parks, scenery) - good number of water stations - great volunteers - nice medal I'll keep an eye on this one to see if there are any changes before I try this one a third time. | |
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L. S. from Chicago, IL
(4/26/2010)
"Good course with challenging hills at times" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I really liked this marathon. I thought the course was pretty overall. Hills were challenging. I really enjoyed running though Iroquois and Cherokee Parks (hilly part!) and the greenery coverage. Good downhills as well. After the mini splits, it is a small marathon. Finishing through mini walkers was frustrating at the end. Overall good experience. | |
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Adrian Telling from Chicago, IL
(4/26/2010)
"Overall Good Race and City - Thanks, Louisville" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Overall, a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in Louisville. Living in the flatlands of Chicago, I am not accustomed to hill running, but I knew coming into Louisville and reading past comments that the course was going to be challenging - and it did not disappoint. A special thanks to Tony, who I met at the start of the race and who took me through the first several miles of the course, letting me know where the hills were and giving me some detail on what to expect later in the race. Tony was also there on the final turn after crossing back on the bridge, spurring on runners to the finish. His enthusiasm was much appreciated at that point. General comments: - First time in Louisville - great city and very scenic. - The DECA conference was in town (high school kids). I know this would mean an issue for some people, but luckily the hotel gave us a corner room and sleep was not an issue before the race. Previously I have not been so lucky and I wish there were a way for hotels to group all marathoners (especially if you are the host hotel) on a couple of floors. - Expo seemed way too small for the size of the event, although packet pickup was pretty efficient. - Efficient shuttle service the morning of the marathon to the start area 9 miles south of the finish line. - With the rain coming down before the race started, it would have been nice for the start area to be near an area where shelter could be had. - There were 10,750 halfers and 1,400 full runners, which meant that crowd support was great for the first 10 miles until the split - after which point the support, though still enthusiastic, was much less frequent. Also crowd control could have been a little better towards the end, when I had to dodge people walking across the course as I made my turn to start the climb through mile 21 onto the bridge. - Aid stations were well stocked with the necessary refreshments and a big thanks to the people working the stations who were very supportive of the runners - Porta-potties: Need to work on providing more at different mileage points along the course, especially early on where there were pretty long lines. For 15,000 expected runners, I would have liked to seen more at the start area as well. - Loved on the final turn to the finish line to still see a mass of spectators cheering on the runners down the home stretch. Since there were only 1,400 marathon runners this was appreciated - Great medal. One final comment is to those people who line up near the front of the race and within 300 yards of crossing the line walk: please do others a favor next time, and if you know you are going to walk, line up towards the back. You pose a danger to yourself and to all of the people behind you who have to move out of the way quickly to prevent themselves from colliding with you. I know this problem exists in most races, but seemed much more prevalent at this event. | |
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E. B. from Central Ohio
(4/26/2010)
"Hills galore! Great course!" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Ran this race last weekend and it was even better than I expected. Course was very pretty - went through 2 parks, some neighborhoods, downtown and CHURCHILL DOWNS! The only thing that wasn't ideal about the course is that we did wind around some construction zones though downtown, and they took us around the block a few times - presumably to get the right mileage for the course because it certainly didn't add any interest to the course. We also went past the finish line at mile 21-ish, which can be a little tough mentally if you're already hurting. The parks were beautiful, though, and the neighborhoods were nice and quiet too. Crowd support was no less than AWESOME for the first 11 miles (before the mini-marathoners split off); after the half marathoners split it was much quieter. Still good support; it was just a little farther between them. I've run several other hilly marathons (Charlottesville and Cincy), but this seemed to have the most hills throughout the race. Very nice and pretty though. Organization was great - we were shuttled to the start and there was no line to get on the shuttles because there were PLENTY of buses to take everyone. Good stuff: Race organization Plenty of water/PowerAde stops at the beginning and middle of the race Crowd support Nice, long-sleeved, technical shirt Nice medal Not so good stuff (because I always feel like I have to find SOMETHING that could be improved): Course route through downtown was kind of choppy and through construction areas. It only consisted of a few miles, though, so not too big of a deal. No gels (though they did have Sports Beans) I guess they could have had water/PowerAde stops closer together toward end of race when we need it a little more "Not so good stuff" really wasn't a big deal. This was a great race, and I'll definitely run this race again! | |
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L. A. from Denver, CO
(4/26/2010)
"Race is meant for half marathoners" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Course: I thought the course was nice until mile 20. Then we took the bridge to nowhere and spent 4 miles just to get back to the bridge. Spectators: if you ran the half, they were there for you. At mile 7, they let you know you were halfway done. At mile 10, almost there. When it was just marathoners, there weren't many. From miles 20 - 25, when I needed them most, there were barely any. Also, from a fan's perspective, there wasn't an easy way to get around the course to see runners (according to my husband). There wasn't much information provided for spectators to get around. Organization: the water/aid stations seemed sporadic. I didn't really know when to expect one and what I would get. Sealed water bottles were supplied, which I wasn't a fan of. At the end, it felt like a very long walk to get out of the finish area to friends/family. Also, marathoners and half marathons have the same finish and medal. There's no real differentiation between doing one or the other. No finisher photos (fine for me, but wanted to let you know). If you're set on doing this race, I recommend the half instead of the full. | |
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Ann Smorado from Chesterland, OH
(4/26/2010)
"Great till mile 25" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I ran the 2010 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon. This was my 20th marathon, but it had been 16 months since my last marathon. Overall, I was very pleased with this event. The expo was small, but it was enough. There was plenty of official race gear and other vendors there so we could shop for things we needed, but it wasn't so large as to be overwhelming. Honestly, the last thing you need the day before a marathon is to spend hours on your feet shopping around a runners expo. I found a great deal on shoes and a jacket, so I left happy! We caught a shuttle to the start at 5:00 a.m.; there was a line of them waiting on the corner. Once we got to the start at 5:30 a.m., there was a bag drop and dozens and dozens of porta-potties. Of course, we knew that by 7:00 a.m. there would not be enough for 15,000 runners. There never could be. I don't care how many there are; there are never enough for that many thoroughly hydrated, nervous runners! We found a spot under an awning (there was light rain) and relaxed till the start. The race started right on time to the tune of Call to Post . There were 15,000 runners, about 13,000 of whom were running the mini-marathon. We had light rain the first hour or so and there were lots of hills. We ran through some beautiful neighborhoods. I wish I knew the names of them; I know one was near the University of Louisville. Of course, the highlight was at mile 7, running the infield at Churchill Downs. Like a bunch of 6-year-olds, runners had to whoop and holler running through the tunnel to the infield. Once there, it was fun to see riders working out horses on the opening day of the spring meet. Preparations were were well under way for Derby Day too. Not long after that, the sun started to peek through and it got quite hot and humid. This is one of the perils of northerners training for a spring marathon. We train in cold weather and are ill-prepared for heat and humidity. These conditions slowed many of us down, but you have to deal with whatever the day brings. Just before mile 11 we split off from the mini marathoners. I was glad to say good-bye to them. Even though I don't talk much to those on course with me, I feel a mental camaraderie with those who are going the distance with me. I couldn't do that with the mini-marathoners there because there were so many more of them than us. There was plenty of water and PowerAde on the course. There were also oranges and Sport Beans. Around mile 17, just after Cherokee Park, we ran through one of most beautiful neighborhoods I have ever seen; they had old stone houses and lovely gardens. I enjoyed that part of the course despite the hills. The last 10K were not very pretty, but I don't expect every mile of a course in a city to be pretty. All cities have their industrial boring parts and Louisville is no exception. My only complaint is that we rejoined the mini-marathoners at mile 25. At this point, we were at close to 4 hours. Many walkers were blocking the course 6 abreast and didn't seem to understand that they needed to leave some space for the runners to pass. We'd call out, "Runners coming through" and they'd look so startled and even annoyed at us. The problem is, they don't understand how difficult it is to dodge people and change pace when you've run 25 miles. No one understands that until they've done it. In the future, I'd like to see them set up separate lanes for the half marathon and the full. I qualified for Boston by the skin of my teeth at this race. Dodging walkers could have easily cost me and probably did cost someone a qualifying time for Boston. How disappointing would that be, to have missed it by seconds and to think you could have qualified without the dodging? Overall, I give this race 4 stars. It would have received 5 if they would not have merged the runners with the walkers at the end. |
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