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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 121 to 131]
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S. D. from midwest
(4/24/2010)
"Great race/expo but not nearly enough porta-pottie" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Everything (course, expo, volunteers) was great, but my PR turned into one of my slowest ever due to the 10-20-minute lines at the 4-5 porta-potties spread 2 miles apart for 15,000 runners. Women were even using the bushes. Each of the porta-potties at construction sites along the course had a dozen or more bibbed runners in line. It sure seemed like there were more last year, or maybe just fewer of us had to go? | |
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C. K. from Michigan
(4/24/2010)
"Loved Churchill Downs and Cherokee Park!" (about: 2010)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This race is geared toward the half-marathoners, but I tremendously enjoyed the full. Favorites: *Running through Churchill Downs *Running through Cherokee Park Least favorites: *Running over the bridge and in Indiana - not scenic at all *Merging with walking half-marathoners in the last mile *Standing in the enormous shuttle line from 6:10 to 6:45 a.m. or so, followed by another 20-25 minutes in the porta-potty line near the start. Get there early! The course was quite hilly, but flatter toward the end. Spectators were mostly in the first half, but a few in the second half as well. Swag (shirt, medal) was average. Water stops were well organized and well stocked, and there were great volunteers. There was PowerAde, water and a couple of spots with oranges. Finish area was decent - only runners allowed - with more water, PowerAde, bananas, granola bars, and bagels. | |
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W. Y. from Kentucky
(9/22/2009)
"Starting line better than in previous years" (about: 2009)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Unusually hot weather slowed my time, but that was to be expected. I've run the Second St. Bridge numerous times, but never at the end of a marathon. Place the bridge earlier in the race or not at all, and this will be a much better race! | |
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S. H. from Beavercreek, OH
(6/5/2009)
"Great race director" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I think the marathon must have been on the hottest day of the year. However, there were plenty of water stops with plenty of water. I really enjoyed the race. It was my worst time so far, but I think that was because of the heat. Running through Churchill Downs was really cool. The course was nice running through a few beautiful parks. The bridge at miles 23-25 was tough, going over and back. My husband was waiting at the finish with my kids, and in all of the confusion of seeing them, I forgot to pick up my bag that I checked that morning. I realized I had forgotten it after I got home. To my surprise, a package arrived on my doorstep about two weeks later. I have to really thank the race director for doing that. I was sad that I was not going to get my shirt back. It made my day when I got home the afternoon the package arrived. Great race! Great race organization! Great volunteers!! | |
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Darren Gaskin from Kentucky, USA
(5/20/2009)
"Good race in Kentucky" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The expo was great, but the location was changed just before the race. Organization was good. The weather was unusually hot this year, but the race guys were well prepared and took good care of the runners. This course was hillier than the Flying Pig in Cincinnati. It was a smaller race (only started 12,000 between the full and the mini marathon). The finisher's chute was really good. Nice medal. The shirt was a long-sleeve, cotton t-shirt. | |
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T. W. from Boston
(5/19/2009)
"Loved It!" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 My third marathon and fastest time yet. It is a beautiful city and course. The unexpected 80-degree weather did not bother me. It was very windy. The hills were tough at times, but not bad. I would definitely run it again. | |
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Kevin Burns from Portsmouth, Rhode Island
(5/8/2009)
"Hilly... Hot... Lonely... But Loved the City!" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I knew coming in that it was going to be sweltering hot and I would have to adjust my times accordingly. I came in well prepared but my times were 25 minutes slower than what I wanted them to be. The course was hilly through the parks and the best part of the course was the straightaway up to the city and through Churchill Downs. Once the half-marathon and marathon split, it was very lonely, but this is where a well focused marathoner thrives... and in my case suffers. The water stops were numerous and well placed and towards the end I was getting sick from either too much water or the heat. This was my third marathon and fastest so far; and my experience was overall very good. I probably will not run the course again unless it is the half-marathon. This is a great city to get around in and has some great places to see... Louisville Slugger Museum, Churchill Downs, Falls of the Ohio State Park and a short trip to the Berheim Forest and Abe Lincoln's birth home and boyhood home! | |
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G. K. from Florida
(5/7/2009)
"Lots of fun!" (about: 2009)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Most of the course is lovely - particularly through the parks and the neighborhoods with the amazing Victorian houses. The pink and white blooms are just so... springtime-ish! I loved it. Also, it was pretty cool to run through Churchill Downs... I liked the horse-race "chatter" that they played for us. As others said, after mile 12, crowd support was minimal, but I was actually surprised that there was any support considering how few marathoners there were relative to the overall participants; the vast majority were mini runners. Our pace group's pacer (Betty) was super fun and motivating, and that helped more than we know. Before mile 12, the spectators were GREAT!! And throughout the course, the volunteers totally rocked!! Even though it was hot and basically miserable, particularly towards the end of the course, there was plenty of water if you kept a bottle and sipped between stations. There was plenty to eat/drink at the finish. Great job with all of that! The expo was good. Not very big, but I like that better. The local-tourist-helper-lady was fantastic, and it was super cool to meet Dane Rauschenberg... what a pleasant guy! (The long-sleeve cotton t-shirt is indeed ugly.) It was our first time visiting Louisville, and we really enjoyed it. Overall, the experience was great! | |
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M. N. from Elkridge, MD
(5/5/2009)
"HOT - but overall a good run!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I agree with most of the people so far about the 2009 edition of the race. The weather can't be avoided and they did a good job of preparing and adjusting. It did seem like a long time between water stops, but I'm sure that was just because of the heat! The bottles of water were really helpful (normally would be wasteful and a pain). Yes, the mini-marathon is the main event, since 90% of people run that and the full is relatively new (the mini has been around for a long time). I didn't mind too much, other than that the coverage afterward, especially in the newspapers I saw, was 99% about the mini. I loved the course, and had a lot of fun the whole race. The first half, when you run with the mini-marathon runners, is packed - which is good in the sense of the adrenaline around you, and the crowd support. Yes, it was tough splitting off after 12, but I was with 2 others, which really helped. I agree that a water stop on that long stretch after the split would have been great. The hills weren't too bad, though I think the combination with the heat was tough overall. That bridge was a killer towards the end, but at that point I didn't really care too much. I was having fun and had given up on any hope of making my goal (BQ). The organization was good as far as I could tell. A smaller expo than I expected, but that's not a huge deal. Packet pickup was easy and quick. Again, they did a pretty good job of preparing for the heat. The finish line was organized. Not an extraordinary amount of food from what I saw, but I don't need a whole lot since I go out and eat after the race. Corrals at the start seemed to work - in the front at least (I can't say I've ever started in the elite corral before!). I liked the town, and everyone there seemed to be pretty friendly and helpful. The lady at the expo told us to go across the river to eat and the guy at Churchill Downs told us to buy souvenirs elsewhere (cheaper) - so that was kind of odd, but hey, it worked for us! Thanks for a good time, Louisville! | |
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Patricia Boler from Amelia Island, Florida USA
(5/5/2009)
"Lovely city, pretty course, but HOT and HILLY!" (about: 2009)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I waited a while before submitting my comments. I would have written brutal comments before I had a little bit of time to reflect. We chose the course because of the Derby. I had heard it described as rolling hills. They were being modest! Go out easy, as the first 6 miles through the first park are serious! Churchill Downs was GREAT! There are horses on the side warming up - absolutely beautiful! After the split from the half-marathoners, it's desolate for awhile. Later, the second park is hilly again! The bridge near the end was nothing after the parks. It's cool to go into Indiana! It was unusually hot, but I don't regret doing it. It was very pretty, and Louisville is a first-rate city. Incredibly nice people and super service in all restaurants! Go to Bristol downtown! Yum! Awesome medals! Thanks! |
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