Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

I had made a resolution this past New Year’s to try and hit at least 5 marathons per year all the way through 2015.  I had a quick recovery from running New Orleans the previous month and decided that Louisville Kentucky seemed like a good choice for the next race.  It always takes place the weekend before the Kentucky Derby with all of the weeks festival activities starting with this race.  The course even gives runners the opportunity to run through the infield of Churchill Downs.

I have found Louisville to be a very nice town with a lot of interesting sights and activities to keep a persons interests.  There is a lot of history involved with this city and a perfect getaway for the weekend.  I found this to be a big city marathon with a small town feel to it.  The shirts given at the packet pick up were nice and getting to the start line was rather easy.  The course was mostly flat during the initial first half but increasingly difficult during the second.  This race features a half marathon simultaneous to the full marathon and draws several thousand patrons.  Both courses stay together through downtown past the Louisville Slugger building, through Churchill Downs and eventually splits off at the 10k mark near the university.   Later on the courses meet up again during the final 2 miles of the half marathon and the 18^th mile of the first.  This was my only complaint about the race due to congestion around some of the water stations.  At mile 18, a runner starts to get close to the infamous wall and is in dyer need of hydration, simultaneously I am hitting these same water stops with a large group of walker/joggers toward the end of their journey.  This section of the race also becomes further complicated while trying to weave in and out of other folks.  This can be a very frustrating part of the course both mentally and physically.  It becomes even tougher since you can see the finish line but then the marathon course takes a right turn and goes through another 6 miles of some of the steepest hills of the race.

On race day, I decided to take the same approach that I had during the New Orleans marathon.  I was going to run slow at the first and really have no agenda as to a time that I wanted to run it in.  Most of the race was flat and fast with the exception of a few hills at the halfway point and during the last 10k of the race.  The spectators were also very encouraging and seemed to pay a particular fascination as to my physical size and my overall pace due to it.  I did not pay much attention to my watch but then realized that my average pace was around 7:20 per mile.  I had not felt like I was running with that much effort but it just turned out to be a good day.  I felt great and was also proud to be sporting my newest Reckless Running race singlet which also got a lot of attention from both runners and spectators.

The highlight of the race came during the run through Churchill Downs, it was one of those rare moments when you see such a magnificent sight that it almost makes you dizzy from the enormity of it.  It was such a stark contrast at this point of the race, the Downs is one of the pinnacles of wealth where millionaires, billionaires and celebrities come to party and spend extravagant amounts of money on a horse race then two blocks outside of the arena is an area filled with rows of poverty and high crime.  The halfway point of the race went through a park on the south end of town in which the homeless were our only form of spectators in sight.  It is a bit of a saddening contrast to see on race day running through so much wealth next to so much poverty and not much in between.  It does make me very thankful to live the life that I do, with having a job and roof over my head and being able to provide a reasonable life for my family.

The overall experience of the race was a pleasant one despite a few minor hiccups.  The medal given at the finish was very nice and high quality and I also finished in 3 hours  and 14 minutes.  The festival at the end was also extremely entertaining with almost a carnival like feel to it.  This race is one that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a good race experience.  I crossed the line looking ahead to my next marathon coming up in June.  Marathon #12 is in the books and then shall come the dreaded #13 in Tell City Indiana.