Congratulations to the Race Director and the Committee on a great event. Well done!! I believe the event is now much more reflective of the area and the KDF than in years past. I ran the inaugural KDF Marathon in 2002, the 2012 Marathon, and several KDF Marathons in between. The thing that strikes me the most over the last 10 years is that the coordinators LISTEN and take to heart meaningful comments provided by the participants. Just a few examples of improvements include course changes, a medal that reflects the event, and course support beyond that provided for the Mimi. This was my first run on the 'new' course and I'll admit I like the original one better. However, I recognize many benefits to the new course, particularly the elimination of the logistics of busing people to the start. Additionally, more spectators are present at the last half of the event (not a requirement for me, but it is for many). It is easier for families to see their runners at the beginning and the end. I heard many out-of-town runners comment on the thrill of running through Churchill Downs and the beauty of Iroquois Park. I'll wrap up with a big Thank you for your hospitality for the 50 States Marathon Club's Spring Reunion. I can't wait to see what's next!

This was my 1st marathon. I have run the half about 7 times before and i wanted to up my challenge. I am from Louisville, so it was great to have family and friends to cheer me on. I ran with the pace group, which I highly recommend. It is free and they keep you at a steady pace so you won't bonk at the end. This race is done with the half, but it wasn't an issue for me (4:30 finish). Loved the expo. Could use a few more fans last 6 miles. I highly recommend this race and I will do it again.

I agree with other posters from previous years, the half marathon is huge and the full is sparse. They announced 18,000 runners at the start, I'd bet only 2000 were in the full at best.

Problems with this:
1. The full and half run together for almost 8 miles - not too bad, BUT the marathon comes back to that split at about mile 17-18, and all over the road are half marathon walkers. Signs need to be better to put the halfers on the left and allow the full runners a clear path on the right. Both dangerous and energy consuming to duck and weave through the halfers.
2. Th full course takes a hard turn away at mile 20, and that last 10k is a hilly challenge for that late in the race.

3. I hated how the halfers hogged a lot of the finish line food. When i finished i saw a box for fig newtons and i thought 'oh yeah - that sounds great!' and I don't normally even eat them but marathons make for strange cravings. Imagine my disappointment when i only found empty boxes but saw halfers walking around with multiple samples of them and the Ritz cracker packs. I know its a problem at many races that run both events, but with the huge disparity in numbers, they should almost have a separate line for the full runners.

Expo was great - not too big, not too small or crowded.
water stops were frequent and well staffed. I did not like the plastic cups that you could not pinch, but that's a relatively minor thing and i know you can't help who donates what kind of cups.
parking near the start/finish was cheap and easy to find. Road closures were not a problem.

As a back-of-the-packer I understood that after 6 hours I would need to get on the sidewalks which was fine. But they started taking down the course at about 5 hours, pulling up the cones and the mile markers. The course is not well marked on the street. Luckily someone with me had a phone and could pull up the map. If not for her, I would still be wandering around Louisville. No aid stations after 5 hours. No finish line mat, no clock but I did get a medal at the end. My advice-take a readable map with you if you are a slow runner or a walker.

I've run this twice, and probably won't be back. I was at an expo for another race this week, and none of the problems have been addressed. In some ways they've gotten worse. Specifically:


1) The merge between the full marathon and the half marathon is a complete fiasco, and remains unchanged. This has the effect of putting the full marathon runners back into a giant pack of slow-moving walkers at about mile 18...right out of the hills, when the race is really starting to hurt. The full marathoners are so out numbered at this point, nobody cares, you have to zig in and out to make progress.

2) They continue to expand the field. They are adding 2,000 more entrants this year to an already overcrowded event. I suspect most of these 2,000 will be walkers, which will further aggravate problem #1.

The root of all this is that the full marathon is really an afterthought. For many years, this was just a half-marathon, and less than 10% of the runners now run the full. In addition, the event has become increasingly about half-marathon walkers. Organizers don't seem to care much about the full marathon, and the experience reflects this. I really think they out to just take it back down to a half, that's clearly where all the focus lies.

If you are looking to chat on your phone while walking slowly through Louisville, and get a shirt out of it, this is the event for you. If you are remotely interested in pushing yourself for 26.2 miles...you're probably better off at another event.

Really did enjoy the new course. The hills can be challenging, but the start and finish downtown helps make it easier for family and out-of-towners. The run through Churchill Downs was fantastic! All the way around, the course offers a lot of variety and a lot to look at.

Race organizers have this event put together very well. Even the merge back in with the half marathoners around mile 17 was done at a time when it was good to see others.

Fun, enjoyable, wonderful city marathon.

This was my second marathon and my first big one. My first marathon was in Napa Valley and was hoping and looking forward to some of the perks that should come with the bigger sized marathon. And come they did with some disappointments.

Pros:
The course in itself is a wonderful course, you get to run through several historic areas including running through Churchill Downs. Which to me, a horse racing geek to the extreme, was a dream come true even if it was only the infield. Also if you like racing and normally listen to music I recommend taking the headphones off. They had an old race call from back in the 90s playing as we were going through the infield. The only part I disliked was the Iroquois Hill which encompasses four miles of the course including the half way point because my hips were starting to kill me by that point.

The course closes with the last pace team. Meaning as long as you are ahead of the last two pacers all of the perks that come with the race will still be there.

Spectator while not a constant do gather in fairly decent groups at certain points along the route. And not just the 'scream team' spots mentioned on the website. And they will be there at least in some amount continuously. I was at the back and I saw quite a few spectators.

Nicely run expo. Decently priced merchandise some of which weren't tech shirts but were cute in general.

The photo guys never leave. No really they don't. Huge kudos to them since their have been 10ks I've done where I didn't get a picture because the camera guys didn't stay long enough.

Plenty of treats. As I was making my way back to where my Mom was parked they still had a lot of bananas left. To the point where one lady literally handed me a bundle of five bananas insisting that I take them.

Big loud announcements, I can still hear the voice announcing 'Race Split ahead' in my head if I concentrate on my memories. You can hear them from a good distance away. I heard the first announcement for a race split as we were entering Churchill which was several hundred yards down the road from where the actual race split was after you exited Churchill.

Mini-bottles. You know how most races give you a cup or fill up a bottle if you are carrying one? Not these guys they go the extra mile with the drinks. They give you a small bottle to carry. Really nice and convenient since I could stow if I wished to drink later. They still had the usual which popped up some at the energy stations but it was a real nice difference.

Cons: The Pasta Feed. After Napa this was a big disappointment. They have essentially two choices for pastas and neither were all that great. Plus their garlic bread was DRIPPING butter. Recommend hitting either Olive Garden or if you don't mind a wait the Old Spaghetti Factory across the street. If you plan to skip the Pasta Feed or want a second option make sure to get reservations. Had to eat at the bar because the wait between prom groups and fellow runners was around 2 hours.

Be weary of the pace groups. They may go faster than you want. The group that was supposed to be going 13:45 per mile was going much, faster, at least in the first few miles. I averaged around 12:30 for my first two miles and was behind them, indicating they were running faster than the time they are supposed to run. They slowed down at some point, probably around the hill, but the point is they went fast early.

And the organization probably would get a 5 if it weren't for a mistake they made. The day before the race my Mom and I decided to drive the course to check out what I was dealing with using the map provided at the Expo. What neither of us knew until I was into the race was that this map was out of date and the most recent was on their website. This little factor threw me off in the race because it was confusing to turn or not turn when we hadn't been doing so during the drive.

Other than that had a great time. Got a nice finishing medal and certificate for my efforts. Definitely a race I would recommend to anyone.

This was my 9th marathon and 5th state in my quest for 50/50. I have purposely avoided this race for a few years because the reviews were so bad (from the shirt, to the course, to the start and finish). The organizers addressed all this so I gave it a shot.

I was VERY pleased. Best course I've ever run. Just challenging enough, many flat parts...if you PR here you should be proud, it's definitely achievable and not one of those non challenging courses.

Aid stations...plentiful and consistent (about every 2.0 miles), but they don't just give you a cup of water. They give out 8 oz water bottles. They are small enough to fit in your palm so you can hydrate between stations. I stayed PERFECTLY hydrated with nothing but water for most of the course. No nausea (from too much Powerade), no cramping and I was able to really kick it up at the end because I felt so good.

Miles 1-12 are perfectly flat, shaded and scenic (run through Churchill Downs while the horses are out training....incredible). 12-16 is Iroquois Park...billy goat course but it was fun and very beautiful tree lined park. Up and down, up and down, with some big time downhills (take it easy on those quads).

16-22 are pretty flat. 22-24 there are some minor hills...again I found it fun and challenging.

Start and finish are right downtown by the KFC Yum! Center and baseball park. Post race food kind was sad (nothing but the usual) HOWEVER there is a HUGE Derby Festival party on the waterfront from 5 pm-11 pm featuring bands, carnival rides, booze...we had a great time and had some incredible Greek food! One of my friends was the guitarist in one of the bands (Eight Inch Elvis).

We stayed at the Galt House right downtown. Got a GREAT rate the week of the race and its a 4 star (West wing) or 5 star (East wing suites) hotel. Plenty of hotel space within walking distance of the start.

I highly recommend making a weekend of this race. Louisville has great downtown dining, Derby Festival, and an amazing race. Would do it again in a heartbeat if I wasn't going on to other states for my 50/50

This is almost a great marathon but I wouldn't run it again nor could I recommend it. I'm reviewing this from the point of view of someone who runs marathons competitively (albeit against myself).

Looking back at my mile splits I see three areas where I fell below my goal pace and they all had the same cause: human traffic.

Each runner is assigned a corral at the start which is terrific in theory but in practice runner/walker placement was not enforced nor did I hear it encouraged. Because of the number of runners out there from both the marathon and half-marathon mix the volume of slow people up front became a big factor. I would have liked to have started with people running my pace but never got there. Instead I had to dodge slower runners/walkers for 3 miles. I lost time there. The next slow spot was a bit of a bottleneck in Churchill Downs. The place is beautiful and it's quite a thrill to run through it but you're not on a four lane road anymore, it's a 3 person wide path through the infield. So if you're not running with your pace group by now, you don't have much room to improve your chances here. The half and full marathoners part ways soon after exiting the grounds. After that it's a beautiful course for many miles, through a gorgeous and hilly, but not too hilly, Iroquois Park. If only the whole marathon were like this. But what happens next is unforgivable. The half marathon walkers are merged back in and are given no instructions to stay out of the marathon runner's way. The road is not divided though it could have been and you'll feel like a running back trying to score with the half time marching band having already taken the field. For 3 miles! It is downright dangerous at this point. At mile 20 the marathoner's take a right turn, the final six miles are again terrific with a nice challenge three miles out.

As a runner, if you're not interested in qualifying for Boston or testing the results of your training or measuring yourself against the clock then I'd say run this race. Go for a jog. Louisville is a terrific host city for the race. The packet pickup is easy, it's a nice expo, it's easy to get around town and a nice time of year to be there. The shirt and medal are both quality swag. Everything about the event and post event is better than average. Water is given out by enthusiastic volunteers in small plastic bottles which I was initially skeptical of, but that turned out just fine. Other than my traffic report I can't say anything negative about the experience and I hope other reviewers give it its proper due. But after what I had to go through from mile 17 to mile 20, it's a NO from me.

I enjoyed this run very much. Other than a couple of miles early in the run, the course was very nice. It was challenging in the middle part of the race and a nice hill was thrown in near the end. The medal and shirt were very nice. Louisville is a fun city to visit, with some nice attractions. My only complaint would be the corral start, which was disorganized. They need to have clear signs for the corrals. Many walkers and slower runners were near the front and created a lot of traffic for the first couple of miles. Over all, a very nice event.