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Jul 1, 2024

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 91 to 101]

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D. S. from Cox's Creek, Kentucky (5/23/2010) "Start/finish set-ups need work" (about: 2010) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 5 The race began on a narrow street with 15,000 runners, and the portable restrooms were over 2 blocks away. Not enough room for runners to spread out into their respective pace areas. I will be astounded when the day arrives that 3-hour half marathoners DO NOT line up near the front a the large pack of runners at the start of a race. The course was OK, although some areas in the Indiana side were not wide enough to pass easily unless you risked crossing to traffic side of cones. Finish area, was a mess. My parents drove over 3 hours to surprise me at the finish, and then I could not get to them without either crossing in front of runners or going almost another mile to get to them. Also, the last mile had runners going through construction areas. Spectators were wonderful, but the race needs some course and organizational changes.
B. F. from So. IL (5/7/2010) "Well organized, two-state race" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Good course; just too narrow at the beginning. Reasonable hydration and nutrition support. Little food at the finish line. I appreciated crossing into another state on the race course. Of my three dozen marathons, it was my first for that. My thanks to the lady on the river bridge who was so enthusiasticly cheering every runner - great appreciation. I was disappointed to see the "Wal-Mart" name on the front of the tech shirt. The name was bigger than the word "Marathon." Also, having that same name on my finisher medal was a real downer to me. I paid good money to register for the race. Why cheapen the bling? For that reason I will avoid this race in the future until the ads are reserved for the back side of the race shirt. I do thank all of the great volunteers who made this race so neat.
D. C. from Columbus,OH (5/3/2010) "Lots of fun. Get to run inside Churchill Downs." (about: 2010) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Could use some fan support from mile 10.5 to 18 and from 21 to 25. Course was a lot of fun. The hills are there, so be prepared for them. The end of the race could be really hot if the sun comes out; there is not very much shade there. I enjoyed my weekend in Louisville very much.
W. C. from Macomb MI (4/28/2010) "Pretty good overall" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This marathon was my 26th in the last 7 years. I really didn't know what to expect from this race as I knew it was geared toward the half marathon, but overall it was well done. Positives: Beautiful, challenging course Excellent water station organization Organized start area and transportation GREAT traffic control (best I've seen) Nice medal Negatives: Being 25 miles into a race and having to weave through half-marathon walkers There was a lack of spectators after the half-marathon split I guess the biggest negative for me is running through half marathon walkers. I was finishing up at about a 7-minute-per-mile pace and had to weave through walkers. Unacceptable. All that the race organizers had to do was give us a narrow lane for marathoners. But all in all, I loved this challenging course.
A. S. from Dallas, TX (4/28/2010) "Timing chip on the bib - lost" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was very surprised by the beauty of the city, Louisville, and friendliness of the people, especially young people. Despite some negative comments about this year's course and the spectators, I found both to be excellent and enthusiastic. I appreciated the fact that the course included Churchill Downs - the Derby site - and quite a few hills (but equally rewarding downhills). This was my 18th state and 18th marathon. The only downside was: this race used timing chips that were glued to the bibs. I initially thought that this was a great idea. However, I found out that I lost both of those devices from my bib when I couldn't find my time registered on the result website the following day. I sent an email about it, and my time is now re-instated according to what I stated to them. Since I am such a slow runner and my time for this race was nothing to write home about, reinstating the time was not a controversial matter. However, if one were on a border line with a Boston qualifier time, I don't know if he/she could get away with swearing the unofficial time and receiving qualification. I did advise the race director in my email to warn runners the next time should the race continue to use the same timing devices. From now on, though, I will always carry a plastic bag to protect my bib in case another race uses the same device. Thanks, Louisville, you were great!
G. B. from Louisville, KY (4/27/2010) "Marathon Runners/Mini-Marathon Walkers Bottleneck" (about: 2010) 6-10 previous marathons \| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 Gripe # 1. At mile 25, when leaving the 2nd Street Bridge, the marathon runners were forced to negotiate crowds of mini-marathon walkers, an unexpected and unacceptable obstacle. The race director must have foreseen the consequences of this, which makes the decision to have the two races meet at that point supremely inept. Gripe # 2. No gel packs on the course. The course is chock-full of challenging hills and scenes of natural beauty. Other than my reservations about this event outlined above, I would recommend this marathon to anyone looking for an exacting but enjoyable 26.2 experience.
L. D. from Florida (4/27/2010) "Nice, with room for improvement" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The good: Good size expo, but not so nice for the half marathoners - they waited in two lines - one for their packet and another line for their shirt. Full marathon tech shirt was nice, but black - not something I would wear again. Busing to the start seemed to run very smoothly. Nice course, with lots of hills throughout. Spectators were great for the first 10 miles, but trailed off for the marathoners. Those who were out there were great! Medal was okay. The bad: I saw only 4 or 5 mile markers. They had clocks along the course, but if they were associated with a mile marker, it was MIA. Although the rain/nasty weather held off until late afternoon, it was very humid at the start. This was especially nasty since the first few miles ran through a park with virtually no air circulation due to the tree cover. The ugly: THE START. Most runners were divided into 3 corrals, depending on finish times for the half and full. Why the heck they didn't have a separate corral for walkers is beyond me. I was in Corral C (estimated 5:00 finish time), and dodged walkers doing both the half and full for the first couple of MILES. It took me 15:10 to get to the start line, and there were hundreds if not a couple of thousand runners behind me. Walkers in front of me were 4 abreast. Ridiculous. There was not enough road at the start for the 15K entrants. A two-lane street is just not wide enough, and it got worse once you entered Iroquois Park. PLASTIC CUPS and PLASTIC BOTTLES at the water stops. I saw only a couple of water stops that had normal paper cups. EVERY water stop had 8-ounce, capped, plastic bottles; 26.2 miles of empty plastic bottles lying on the side of the road is neither "green" nor pretty. The finish: The post-race food was a block away, and then we had to walk another block BACK to the finish line because the road dead-ended.
V. C. from New Albany, Indiana (4/27/2010) "New Course for 2010" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 6+ Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I have done this race every year since its start (my hometown race). This was definitely the most challenging year from a course standpoint. It was nice not to have to run up Lexington Ave., but this was replaced by additional challenging hills in Cherokee Park. A more scenic route, but much tougher! I liked the downhill finish and the "scream teams," and suport staff are always great. Crowd support drops significantly after the break from the half marathon. More bands and scream teams on the second half of the course would be great, especially in Indiana, where there was almost no crowd support. The crowd that was out there offered great support as usual. Great run!
s. l. from Versailles, kentucky (4/27/2010) "I had a great time; would recommend to anyone" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I had a blast! I ran the half last year and the full this year. I enjoyed the race, the city, and the people. A huge thanks to the marathon organizers, the spectators, the volunteers, and the police/EMS. I was surprised to see such a good spectator turn out for a day that started off rainy. Those who would criticize the spectators... keep in mind they aren't obligated to come and cheer for you. They choose to. Thanks to the people at the water stations. I didn't care if the water was in a bottle or a cup - I am just glad that you were there handing it out. I have seen some complaints about porta-potties. But there were 15,000 people plus spectators; there is no way to get enough porta-potties for everyone, so get over it. It is unrealistic to expect your own personal toilet every 100 yards. The website explained everything in great detail, so with a little light reading, I had a good idea of the course layout, the location of the water stations, and the runners reunite area. I was able to plan my run accordingly. The course was great - very challenging, with lots of hills and nice scenery. Cherokee Park was a very nice area. I read some complaints about people walking down the street not involved in the race and some teens from a conference that was going on who weren't into the race. It would be hard to shut down the entire city for the race, so there are going to be other people there. Once you come to grips with the fact that not every citizen of Louiville cares if you are running a marathon, it is easier to see someone walking down the street indifferent to your running. The only problem (very minor) that I experienced was that the Asics pace team guy for the 4:30 group started walking at the 20-mile mark and was unable to continue at his designated pace. I went on and hit my mark anyway, so no harm was done. Overall, it was a great event in a great city. I would recommend it to anyone. I will definitely be back for more!
J. V. from Carmel, IN (4/27/2010) "Happy" (about: 2010) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my first marathon, and I was not disappointed. Positives: 1) Beautiful course. 2) Crowds were great when they were present. 3) Organizers seemed very on top of it. 4) Technical running shirts were very cool. 5) Beer at the finish line. 6) Cool finishing medal. Negatives: 1) It seemed like carb replinishment stations (PowerAde/oranges) were few and far between, especially once marathoners break away from the mini runners. 2) Crowds were somewhat sparse during the second half of the marathon course. Overall, great race. I will definitely consider running the race again.

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