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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 231 to 241]
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L. K. from Atlanta, GA
(5/2/2007)
 "Louisville knows how to run a marathon!" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Run the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and you'll feel like royalty! This was my seventh marathon and the best course by far. It's scenic and far less hilly than most. Running through Churchill Downs and across the river into Indianna was unique and fun. The aide stations and volunteers were wonderful! There was plenty of Sports Beans, PowerAide and BOTTLED WATER! WOW! The clocks at each mile were also a nice touch that I've never seen elsewhere. To top it all off they sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me at the finish line! Now that's royal treatment! Crowd support after the first half was sad. Everyone went home after the half. The announcer from the radio station ticked me off by saying at mile six, 'only seven more miles and you can all go home to bed!' Excuse me, some of us ran the whole marathon! Next year, I'm bringing several friends along as you can be sure I'm going to make this an annual race! | |
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g. k. from Knoxville TN USA
(5/2/2007)
"Great race" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Great organization and great course; good crowd but very sparse at the critical miles between Mile 20 and the finish line. Not enough oranges after the half, and nothing to eat but jelly beans - need to add oranges, bananas, and most of all, jelly food (Gu)!!! | |
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c. m. from Davie, Florida
(5/2/2007)
"A great course" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 A wonderful course to run. I agree with the other comments I have read, other than 1 who wrote the temperature was too hot! Way too few porta-potties at the start; there were probably 500 runners still in line when the gun went off. After running the Country Music Marathon twice, and now this one, I would recommend this race highly over the Nashville race, which is full of out-n-backs. The volunteers were the best I've ever experienced and rather than giving out water cups, they gave you a small bottle of water which I carried for a mile or so. This was a great perk. Thanks, Louisville! | |
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D. L. from Chicago
(5/1/2007)
"Two Races In One" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The marathon felt like two races in one - a crowded large-city marathon the first half, and a small-city marathon for the second half. Watching the horses running the track at Churchill was great, and the playback of recorded race broadcasts was a nice touch. What the fans lacked in numbers they made up for in enthusiasm. I didn't pass many groups of spectators without a clap or words of encouragement. There are some small opportunities for improvement in organization: water bottle caps are a slip hazard on the course, no port-o-potties at the start line, non-cotton shirt, lack of cold refreshments at the finish, and an inadequate tie wrap for the timing chip. I had to lace my chip after the tie wrap came off just before the start. I hope there weren't any finishers whose lost their chip before the finish. On the positive side, the course was well controlled and marked, and water stations were well staffed. | |
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R. S. from Kansas
(5/1/2007)
"A great challenging race" (about: 2007)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my first full marathon and my comments would reflect a mid to back of the pack runner. The course was the most enjoyable of any city race that I've run. It is a fairly hilly course in places, but nothing too difficult. I train in the KC area, which is moderately hilly, so I found this to be no problem. As most people point out, we ran through Churchill Downs and a couple of nice parks, but I particularly liked the unique neighborhoods, especially around the university. Crowd support was excellent. Even the 2nd half of the race had a few supporters. The aid stations were adequately staffed; the volunteers were friendly and enthusiastic. There was one aid station fairly early in the race where they seemed to have no cups. My partner and I had no choice but to share an entire 32 oz bottle of Powerade and waste the rest. We followed along with Pacer Bill (4:30 group) and he was very helpful, providing encouragement and useful tips. We eventually fell off the pace after 18 miles or so, to finish in 4:55. My only real complaint was in the finish area, where I could not find any water or powerade. There was still plenty of bananas, bagels and granola bars but not much else. Oh, I did get a beer, it probably wasnt what I really needed, but it sure tasted good. Since all my other races were halfs, I was always at the finish area when there was lots of activity, other runners to talk with, and plenty of refreshments. Finishing at this time, theres not much left going on. It was a bit disappointing that the crowd was gone, but hey, I guess Ill just have to work harder for the next race and finish better. | |
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J. H. from Royersford, PA
(5/1/2007)
"This marathon was a pleasant surprise - PR!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 After reading prior comments, I had anticipated the pitfalls - fewer crowds after halfway, bottled water, etc... and I must say that neither of these was any issue. The expo was efficient, albeit sparse. The t-shirt and complete lack of souvenir merchandise for the marathon were big disappointments. I would have settled for the t-shirt the volunteers had with the race symbol on it!! The race day was extremely well organized and efficient. The course, in my opinion, was great. We were able to get a good flavor of the city, and enjoyed the variety of hills and flats in the parks later. The crowds and activities were much greater on the first half, but still enjoyable... it was nice to get some elbow room after halfway to concentrate a little more on the task at hand. I think it contributed to my PR (by 15 minutes). The finish refreshments seemed to be pretty much picked over by the half marathon crowd when we got there - no PowerAde left. Overall a great experience, especially with a return trip to Churchill in the afternoon. Thanks... | |
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J. H. from Indianapolis, IN
(5/1/2007)
 "It keeps getting better!!!" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This is my 3rd year running the marathon and it continues to trend in a positive direction. The support on the back half of the course was improved over years past, but it is still lacking. I think the word is not quite out on the full marathon as the local Fox station didn't even show the marathon winner on its evening broadcast. But the organizers are doing a great job of making the marathoners feel welcome on the course. I had a guy thank me for running the marathon during the race and another with a sheet that called me out by name prior to entering Cherokee Park. I'd like to thank the LMPD for their incredible support on keeping the roads clear and offering encouragement as I ran by. I think this race is continuing to get better and I look forward to seeing you next year as I plan to continue the streak. | |
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T. M. from Atlanta, GA
(4/30/2007)
"Totally agree with the below statements!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 See below, as they took my words. Running through Churchill Downs, seeing the horses and listening to the old races over the speakers was crazy! Very exciting! Everything went smoothly and moving the time up would be helpful as it did get hot. Pretty quiet second half, though the first half had tons of support. The shirt did suck, but the free poster was a nice touch. In my top 5 of marathons. | |
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P. O. from JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY
(4/30/2007)
"Good support; beautiful; not as hilly as expected" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Generally, great. However, I have what I hope you'll view as helpful remarks. What happened to the baggage drop? I gave away a 1-time use camera and left some personal items at the start. I forget what mile it was, but a runner exiting from a port-o-john was almost run over by a "wheeled" participant. This was on the lefthand side of a curving part of the road. If the "facilities" had been on the right of the road, or set back a little further, I think the chance of an accident would have been lessened. All in all, it was a very well-run event - the expo, the pasta dinner, the race, the finish area - the whole package. Thanks to the organizers, the sponsors, the many volunteers and police officers and anyone else I may have overlooked. This was my 29th state in my quest of running a marathon in each state. When I've met that goal, I may be back again. In the meantime, I will definitely be recommending it to others who are looking for an out of state marathon to run. I had a great time. THANK YOU!! | |
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P. S. from Mt. Washington, KY USA
(4/30/2007)
 "it was harder than I expected" (about: 2007)
First Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The race started off well with the temp. in the low 50s, but, it got hot quick. It was sunny and in the upper 70s. My niece and I had trained well, but, didn't do enough hill training for this race. The 2nd St. Bridge was almost a show-stopper so close to the end of the race. We had family there to cheer us on and even run the last 3 miles with. Had it not been for them, I don't think I wouldn've made it. There weren't a lot of fans for the 2nd half of the race. All in all we survived and are ready to do it again (after a good, long recovery). |
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