Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

Louisville is a fun town with lots to do and see. I spent a lot of time sightseeing before the race and there are many hotels to choose from. The expo was a decent size. The shirt was nice, a red half zip. The marathon starts in the city, goes into Churchill Downs - that was so much fun, then eventually over a pedestrian bridge to Indiana and back. I wasn't sure I would enjoy the paved park setting but it was quite enjoyable and I wasn't bored. The last mile featured a nice downhill to the more level finish area, but after all the positive things to say about the course, it measured long. I had 26.66 miles. I know about running tangents and I wasn't the only one whose watch measured a long course. Several people missed a BQ by a few minutes because of it. The medal and post race party were good. There was a long walk back to the city hotels but it gave the legs a good cooldown.

I was so impressed by the efforts taken by the organizers to produce a safe, in-person marathon. They completely overhauled the course and created a wave system that started at 6:30 am and continued for several hours. The director sent out frequent emails to participants and quickly responded to my questions. On race day, the expected rain storm did not occur until early afternoon. Otherwise, it was perfect conditions for a long run. Louisville is a fun town. I loved staying at the Hotel Distil and recommend the Frankfort Street area for its fantastic restaurants. I can only imagine how great this race will be next year when the traditional run through Churchill Downs returns.

The races are part of a Kentucky Derby Festival, which is a several week celebration climaxing with the running of the Kentucky Derby. There is a marathon, miniMarathon (which is a half marathon), and a marathon relay, all of which take place the weekend before the Kentucky Derby. But the races are just a small part of the Festival, which includes several live music venues, fireworks, hot air balloon fest, and multiple food and drink rodeos. Combining this with the all the sites to see throughout the city and the restaurant and bars make Louisville a place you will want to stay for at least a week! As would be expected, this is a very popular race with typically 12,000+ runners. All the races start at the same time, but many waves. The start is well organized, though we had a little trouble locating the bag drop. The city streets are very wide and easily accommodate the large crowds; I can only recall two pinch points. I estimate only one in six runners are doing the marathon, so it really thins out at the split. The racecourse is pretty flat with the exception of the middle 4 miles of the marathon that run through the hills of Iroquois Park. I thought the course became pretty mundane the last 10+ miles. The aid stations are well placed and plentiful. I thought the crowd support was somewhat less than what I expected, but that doesn't matter to me, and certainly those that were there were loud and supportive. The finish is at Waterfront Park which provides ample room to rest up and fuel up before hitting the showers. Louisville has a rich history and claims to have more restaurants per capita than any other US city. We can vouch that the food choices are varied and delicious. If you are a bourbon fan, this is a must do (suggest drinking the bourbon after the race). You can see more of the race and place on our YouTube channel Race The Nation.