BG26.2 Marathon

We had a lovely, cool sunny day to run this year. The course is scenic & a nice tour of the charming town. I ran the full marathon, so it was two identical loops (thus 4 stars instead of 5). I didn't mind this like I thought I would because I knew exactly how the 2nd half would be. There are a couple of good hills in the first 4 1/2 miles, but enough downhill (that isn't severe enough to trash your quads) to make up for that, and the remaining miles of the loop are relatively or completely flat. I ran a good time and was just out for a training run. The volunteers are wonderful and include a pirate themed stretch of the course ('Say arrrggghhh!'). Race organization was really SUPERB. I'm a former marathon RD and organization is the most important factor for me in choosing a race. I'm a 50 stater and did this for my KY race and I loved it. Highly recommended!! My 42nd race marathon or longer distance.

This marathon is a double loop, challenging course run through a charming campus town. The first loop is hilly and runs through the WKU campus; the second relatively flat. You run the course twice for the marathon - they use the same course for the half. (Does that make it a double loop, double loop course?!!) Packet pickup, held at the National Corvette Museum, was combined with the fee-included pasta dinner. Both were efficient and low key. There was a rudimentary expo with more free goodies than expected given the size of the expo and race. A gentleman greeted runners at packet pickup and offered strategies (warnings?) to runners about how to deal with the hills on the WKU campus and to remind everyone that uphills lead to downhills. Race morning was also low key as the marathon and half marathon runners start before most of the much larger 6k race field's participants had arrived. The combined field for the full and half was never 'large' and thinned considerably on the second lap of the course. On that second lap portions of the course were opened to traffic, but all major intersections were manned by police, lesser roads had course monitors, and locals were very runner friendly - they slowed down for runners, they smiled, they waved. Great people. The course was marked with signs and at virtually every turn of the course there were bright yellow stickers on the pavement pointing the way. Water/Gatorade stations were located basically at every mile and several also had gel packets and/or gel blocks. In sum, the race director had course support covered. If you are looking for cheering crowds you should probably look elsewhere. Then again, you would miss the most enthusiastic crew of pirates that ever manned a water(melon) stop - no kidding! There is more than enough eye candy in the autumn colors and local Bowling Green sights to hold your interest for 26.2. WKU is a handsome, modern campus and if you keep an eye out you can spot one of their famous albino squirrels. The whole of Bowling Green is filled with interesting historic buildings and Victorian houses. This race is perfect for 50 Staters looking to check Kentucky off the list and any runner who likes well-run races in interesting towns.

The course is a double loop, with the first five miles of each loop containing significant hills and back-and-forth paralleling of streets. Once that section is done, runners head east on a relatively flat section. The toughest part of this is setting out on the beginning of the second loop - tough hills to conquer after 13 miles. The organization and amenities were second to none. Decent race bag in the form of a day pack, throw blanket, cotton shirt, tech shirt - pretty amazing. The pasta dinner was nice (although, I should have gone back for seconds - I wasn't certain that was allowed.) The two things I would strongly advocate for are: 1) run the second half in some other way - the repeat of those hills really was murder; and 2) organize an area to leave a drop bag at the start/finish. That should be a very easy logistic. I ended up leaving my rental car unlocked with the keys inside (since running with rental car keys is next to impossible.) Just a very nice event. It gets lonely out there on the second loop, though - be prepared for that (I personally like it that way, though.)