I have run this full marathon twice before, but I ran the half marathon yesterday. However, I think these comments would be helpful to full marathoners as the course was changed this year.

There were no porta-johns near the start. You had to walk a block behind a nearby school to get to them. The hills came much too early in the race, at mile 1. It was nice running through Churchhill Downs, but there were too many turns, tunnels and uneven surfaces. This cut my mile by 45 seconds. It would be much better to pick a route that is straighter and quicker through there. The finish line was not spectator friendly, as there was not a lot of room to stand.

Moreover, the parking was terrible at the finish, and we had to walk a mile to get to our car. Even though the finish was next to Slugger Field, both of their parking lots were coned off, and public parking garages were at lease 3 blocks away. We had to park along River Road instead, which had only pockets of small parking lots along the river and directly away from the finish. These issues would not stop me from running this half/full marathon, however. Although the course is not as fast as the old course now, the city goes all out for this race and the course is fully closed by the Louisville Police, and you never have to worry about running along side a lane of traffic. Although it was raining, there were still nice bands performing along the way under tents.

This race is not as big as the mini-marathon run at the same time. Crowd support for the first 10 miles was awesome when full and mini runners were together.

Hills in Iroquois Park were not such a big deal. Cherokee Park was a different story. Very challenging climbs after putting in 13-ish miles or so.

I am most disappointed with the new B-tag timing chip. When I viewed my results online after the race, I only had a 10K split time - nothing more. The day after the race, I don't even have that. I have disappeared as an official runner of the 2010 Derby Festival Marathon.

I am hopeful that the race director is working on fixing this, but it was a major disappointment not to have an official finish time.

My first KDF Marathon. Very nice, challenging course. Lots of hills, I thought, but we had time to recover. The finish back-and-forth across the bridge was tough, but hey, it's supposed to be, right?!?

My ONLY gripe is that the walkers were in the WAY of the marathon finishers; having to weave in and out of walking traffic is tough at miles 22-23 or so....

I was overall pretty pleased with this race. The course had a few hills, especially around miles 15-18 where they were very long, but the rest of the course was relatively flat. I was also surprised not to see a huge drop-off in runners when we split from the half at mile 10.5, but that may have been a result of the pace I was running.

Where I was disappointed with this race was with the organization and planning. I only counted 14 water/PowerAde stops along the course... not nearly enough for a marathon! I thought things could have been more clear on the morning of the race if the race director would have provided a map in the gear bags explaining with visuals the layout of the start corrals, gear check, etc. Cups of water would have also been a huge plus before the race. Lastly, gear check was very confusing and our bags/gear got a bit wet since they just laid it out on the ground for us to pick up after the race (instead of keeping it in trucks). And no finisher's photos?!

There was some confusion with my registration and the race director straightened it out right away. THANK YOU!

Course added Cherokee Park in this year and the hills on the back half were grueling at times. The Second Street Bridge was also tough in the final miles.

Some of the miles on the back half weren't marked - or maybe their markers fell over in the rain and wind? I only saw the clock for several miles.

Aid stations were great - nice, supportive people - but the crowd really thinned out after the half split off. Cherokee Park is nice and scenic and the homes are beautiful.

Running through Churchill downs (in the rain) was a real treat and I loved seeing the horses being exercised.

The course was a little confusing, coming back down Main Street where the marathoners were on both sides of the street and the finishers were making their way back to their cars. The people giving directions were great, but other finished runners and pedestrians were walking on the course and down side streets in front of runners. I also had to wait at several port-o-pots on the back half only to find non-runners using them.

Great big SHOUT OUT to Tony on the corner, four blocks from the finish. I was fading fast, and he was jogging alongside runners telling us "only 4 more blocks and the last one is downhill," and really cheering us on. THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!!

Everything (course, expo, volunteers) was great, but my PR turned into one of my slowest ever due to the 10-20-minute lines at the 4-5 porta-potties spread 2 miles apart for 15,000 runners. Women were even using the bushes. Each of the porta-potties at construction sites along the course had a dozen or more bibbed runners in line. It sure seemed like there were more last year, or maybe just fewer of us had to go?

This race is geared toward the half-marathoners, but I tremendously enjoyed the full.

Favorites:
*Running through Churchill Downs
*Running through Cherokee Park

Least favorites:
*Running over the bridge and in Indiana - not scenic at all
*Merging with walking half-marathoners in the last mile
*Standing in the enormous shuttle line from 6:10 to 6:45 a.m. or so, followed by another 20-25 minutes in the porta-potty line near the start. Get there early!

The course was quite hilly, but flatter toward the end. Spectators were mostly in the first half, but a few in the second half as well. Swag (shirt, medal) was average. Water stops were well organized and well stocked, and there were great volunteers. There was PowerAde, water and a couple of spots with oranges. Finish area was decent - only runners allowed - with more water, PowerAde, bananas, granola bars, and bagels.

Unusually hot weather slowed my time, but that was to be expected. I've run the Second St. Bridge numerous times, but never at the end of a marathon. Place the bridge earlier in the race or not at all, and this will be a much better race!

I think the marathon must have been on the hottest day of the year. However, there were plenty of water stops with plenty of water. I really enjoyed the race. It was my worst time so far, but I think that was because of the heat. Running through Churchill Downs was really cool. The course was nice running through a few beautiful parks. The bridge at miles 23-25 was tough, going over and back.

My husband was waiting at the finish with my kids, and in all of the confusion of seeing them, I forgot to pick up my bag that I checked that morning. I realized I had forgotten it after I got home. To my surprise, a package arrived on my doorstep about two weeks later. I have to really thank the race director for doing that. I was sad that I was not going to get my shirt back. It made my day when I got home the afternoon the package arrived. Great race! Great race organization! Great volunteers!!

The expo was great, but the location was changed just before the race. Organization was good. The weather was unusually hot this year, but the race guys were well prepared and took good care of the runners. This course was hillier than the Flying Pig in Cincinnati. It was a smaller race (only started 12,000 between the full and the mini marathon). The finisher's chute was really good. Nice medal. The shirt was a long-sleeve, cotton t-shirt.