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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 111 to 121]
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R. W. from Fort Wright, KY
(4/26/2010)
"Hot, Humid, Hilly" (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The day started out with perfect weather (60 degrees, overcast skies, no wind, sprinkles) but ended up being much hotter than I could have prepared for. I made it out of Cherokee Park alive to see that it was 77 degrees, the sun was beating down on me, and the humidity was pretty bad too. I was comfortably going to break my PR and ended up finishing with my worst marathon time ever. This is a good race that has room for improvement. Definitely the toughest when it comes to hills. I have run the Flying Pig and Akron Marathons, and the Derby course has bigger and steeper hills in later miles. The toughness of the course should be seen as something you can be proud of running. Going through Churchill Downs seems to be everyone's fastest mile! | |
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R. V. from Columbus OH
(4/25/2010)
"Good Mini-Marathon" (about: 2010)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Did the mini-marathon. The good: - Great medal - Running through Churchill Downs! - Hills at the beginning of the race, then flat - Live music and great spectators throughout Needs improvement: - Race weekend shared with teen conference, which took over downtown and hotels. Noisy, noisy kids made for poor sleep. - Post-race maze to food and crowded festival activities. Would be better to get medal, food, and water, and then be able to get out. - Women's shirts, please! - Expected a better expo - Need more potties at the start | |
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C. H. from Philadelphia
(4/25/2010)
"Needs work" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 This marathon could be fantastic, but as it stands right now, it's mediocre. The expo is small and overcrowded, the mile markers were extremely difficult to find, there were about 2 port-a-potties on the course, they need more water stations, and the finish line chute does not separate the half marathoners from the full. What the race has going for it: 1) It runs through Churchill Downs 2) The organization with the buses in the morning was one of the best I've ever seen - Boston should take notes 3) The miles through the parks are gorgeous, spectacular and unique 4) The fans and volunteers were wonderful I heard that the course changed this year and perhaps that was one of the reasons for hidden mile markers (no marker at all at 13.1) and inconsistent water stations. Regardless, the race director is lucky to have access to great running areas, but now has to utilize them better. The course is, by far, one of the hardest I've ever run: hilly all the way through and humid weather conditions. 2 out of 5 stars... | |
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J. T. from Atlanta, GA
(4/25/2010)
"Marathon Runners- Second-Class Runners??" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was my first KDF Marathon, but my 16th in the past 4 years. Louisville was a great host city and the people were fantastic. But, this is another half-marathon that has a marathon.. It seemed that the attention was on the mini-marathon runners - not so much on the full marathon runners. THE BAD!! 1) Separate the marathon and half marathon runners when they join back up towards the finish. I do not want to have to run around walkers who seem totally unaware that there are marathon runners still on the course. 2) Provide a separate finisher's chute for the marathon runners. I had to walk past 7 people giving out mini-marathon medals to get to my marathon medal. Not good. 3) Barricade the last mile along the course to keep the friends and family from jumping onto the course to take pictures as the walkers/runners came by. I was tripped by a damn stroller when mom jumped out with kids and stroller to take a picture of dad walking towards the finish of the mini-marathon. Needless to say, the kid heard some "bad" words from me. And they were mad at me for my cussing! 4) While some may like the bridge part of the run, it is not needed at the end of the run (mile 21 and then again mile 24.5). Make it earlier or eliminate completely. Better yet, also add it to the half marathon run as well. I bet you the complaints would increase then. 5) The timing mats. They were at the 10K, but I did not see one at the 13.1 mark or the 20-mile mark. Instead they were at the 10K (6.2), 15K (9.3), 25K (15.5) and 30K (18.6) marks. What's up with that? 6) Instead of the b-tag, how about the d-tag that attaches to the shoe? It is disposable, so there's no need to collect. (Also, the b-tag did not record my 15K or 25K time.) THE GOOD! 1) PowerAde on the course - and not the watered down version, but right from the bottle!! 2) PowerAde at the finish - again, thanks. 3) Bib pickup at the expo was smooth. I like getting 2 shirts as well. 4) Finisher's medal was cool. For a half-marathon, it is great, but those of you that like 26.2, it seems that more and more races are catering to the half and the full is just an add-on. If you are looking for a great half to run, this is one of the best. But for a full, save your money for something else. | |
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D. P. from Brookfield, WI
(4/25/2010)
"Great spectator support; scenic; crowded" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Kentucky is a beautiful state, and the course shows some of this by going through a couple of nice parks. Running through the middle of Churchill Downs was fun and unique, with speakers set up playing the broadcast of some races as a nice touch. The thunderstorms stayed away and the overcast skies I was expecting turned to sun during much of the race, leaving things a little warmer than expected. The spectators were awesome and brought a smile to my face several times. (One held a sign that said, "Chuck Norris never ran a marathon"). Nice downhill finish. I don't like large marathons because I find them too crowded. Running into the first park with several long hills to climb only kept the masses together for longer instead of allowing them to stretch out sooner. I don't know how many wheelchair participants they had, but they needed an earlier start time to avoid getting overtaken by the crowds. I saw one struggling up the hills in the first park. Later I saw one struggling up the ramp to the infield of Churchill Downs because the people in front were oblivious, even when people would shout, "Wheelchair - middle!" Part of that was because many people were running with ear buds on and listening to music instead of being aware of their surroundings. The medal (and ribbon) is one of the nicest in my collection, but the shirt design was a huge disappointment. A simple, plain front with the Kentucky Derby Marathon logo in one corner would have been a good design. At least it was a tech shirt. | |
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M. S. from Louisville, Kentucky
(4/25/2010)
"Don't Like The New Course" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I have run this full marathon twice before, but I ran the half marathon yesterday. However, I think these comments would be helpful to full marathoners as the course was changed this year. There were no porta-johns near the start. You had to walk a block behind a nearby school to get to them. The hills came much too early in the race, at mile 1. It was nice running through Churchhill Downs, but there were too many turns, tunnels and uneven surfaces. This cut my mile by 45 seconds. It would be much better to pick a route that is straighter and quicker through there. The finish line was not spectator friendly, as there was not a lot of room to stand. Moreover, the parking was terrible at the finish, and we had to walk a mile to get to our car. Even though the finish was next to Slugger Field, both of their parking lots were coned off, and public parking garages were at lease 3 blocks away. We had to park along River Road instead, which had only pockets of small parking lots along the river and directly away from the finish. These issues would not stop me from running this half/full marathon, however. Although the course is not as fast as the old course now, the city goes all out for this race and the course is fully closed by the Louisville Police, and you never have to worry about running along side a lane of traffic. Although it was raining, there were still nice bands performing along the way under tents. | |
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A. T. from Chattanooga, TN
(4/25/2010)
"Tough race, and nothing to show for it...." (about: 2010)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 This race is not as big as the mini-marathon run at the same time. Crowd support for the first 10 miles was awesome when full and mini runners were together. Hills in Iroquois Park were not such a big deal. Cherokee Park was a different story. Very challenging climbs after putting in 13-ish miles or so. I am most disappointed with the new B-tag timing chip. When I viewed my results online after the race, I only had a 10K split time - nothing more. The day after the race, I don't even have that. I have disappeared as an official runner of the 2010 Derby Festival Marathon. I am hopeful that the race director is working on fixing this, but it was a major disappointment not to have an official finish time. | |
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s. h. from United states
(4/25/2010)
"Nice - challenging course, well supported race" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 My first KDF Marathon. Very nice, challenging course. Lots of hills, I thought, but we had time to recover. The finish back-and-forth across the bridge was tough, but hey, it's supposed to be, right?!? My ONLY gripe is that the walkers were in the WAY of the marathon finishers; having to weave in and out of walking traffic is tough at miles 22-23 or so.... | |
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Tommy Woroszylo from West Lafayette, Indiana
(4/25/2010)
"Good race, but poor organization and planning" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I was overall pretty pleased with this race. The course had a few hills, especially around miles 15-18 where they were very long, but the rest of the course was relatively flat. I was also surprised not to see a huge drop-off in runners when we split from the half at mile 10.5, but that may have been a result of the pace I was running. Where I was disappointed with this race was with the organization and planning. I only counted 14 water/PowerAde stops along the course... not nearly enough for a marathon! I thought things could have been more clear on the morning of the race if the race director would have provided a map in the gear bags explaining with visuals the layout of the start corrals, gear check, etc. Cups of water would have also been a huge plus before the race. Lastly, gear check was very confusing and our bags/gear got a bit wet since they just laid it out on the ground for us to pick up after the race (instead of keeping it in trucks). And no finisher's photos?! | |
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L. C. from Southern Indiana
(4/25/2010)
"Tough, hilly, but scenic and well worth it!" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 There was some confusion with my registration and the race director straightened it out right away. THANK YOU! Course added Cherokee Park in this year and the hills on the back half were grueling at times. The Second Street Bridge was also tough in the final miles. Some of the miles on the back half weren't marked - or maybe their markers fell over in the rain and wind? I only saw the clock for several miles. Aid stations were great - nice, supportive people - but the crowd really thinned out after the half split off. Cherokee Park is nice and scenic and the homes are beautiful. Running through Churchill downs (in the rain) was a real treat and I loved seeing the horses being exercised. The course was a little confusing, coming back down Main Street where the marathoners were on both sides of the street and the finishers were making their way back to their cars. The people giving directions were great, but other finished runners and pedestrians were walking on the course and down side streets in front of runners. I also had to wait at several port-o-pots on the back half only to find non-runners using them. Great big SHOUT OUT to Tony on the corner, four blocks from the finish. I was fading fast, and he was jogging alongside runners telling us "only 4 more blocks and the last one is downhill," and really cheering us on. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! |
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