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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 351 to 361]
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Mark Davis from Des Moines, IA
(4/29/2002)
 "Well run first marathon" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was the first KY Derby Marathon ran in conjunction with the 29th KY Derby mini-Marathon (really a half-marathon). The first 12 miles have a shared course. I have ran the half 5 times and it is by far my favorite course (PR there in 99). This was my 14th marathon and 0:01:20 away from a PR. There are three medium-size hills in Iroquois park (miles 5,6) and one in Cherokee park (mile 17). I didn't think they were all that bad. It is no more difficult than the Pig in Cincinnati. The course is mainly flat. It goes through a number of nice areas including the two parks, the University of Louisville, Churchill Downs, Slugger Field, Hillerich & Bradsby, Cherokee Triangle and downtown Louisville. The race support was great for the first half but needs work for the second, they have 28 years of catching up to do in the Highlands. The medal pick-up was a long three block walk after just completing a marathon. Great weather in 2002. I think it was about 51 at the start and 54 at the finish. I did finish before it started raining hard. | |
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A Runner from Louisville, KY
(4/29/2002)
 "Pretty decent beginning" (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Being that I had run the 'mini' the last four years I guess I have gotten used to 1. the small size of the expo, 2. the walk back to the convention center. After running the marathon this year I agree that that having to go back to the convention center was like walking the plank after the finish. My biggest complaint is that the help staff at the expo were not that helpful. There were five people sitting at the table but only one was able to answer the questions. That became frustrating when we had 10 people in line and it wasn't moving anytime soon. It would be nice to get more people who are in the 'know' around to help the runners out. Also, although the croud support after we broke away from the 'mini' route was sparse-- everytime you approached, the people began clapping for you which made it feel like I was getting my own standing ovation. Overall it was very good though, the course was great!!!! | |
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A Runner from Lennon,Michigan
(4/29/2002)
 "Good for first time event" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 If I get a chance I will come back to this race. I loved the course, even the hills, and I felt that most of the course was flat anyway. Hopefully not much will change as I did read in the local newspaper that an art fair was upset due to temporary closing of the roads. However the people in cars waiting for us to run through were polite and smiling, and some even cheering us on. I do agree with the complaint of lack of food. Bananas and water just wasn't enough especially after a marathon and mylar blankets would have been great to have afterwards, due to the cold rainy weather. (Ironically the weather was great to run in) There are always some things to work on after an inagural event and for the most part I felt it went well! We even saw Elvis! And also appreciated the large singing church choir in the middle of the park at mile 17. What a lift that was! | |
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IRUN42K from Ohio
(4/29/2002)
"How about food for the slower runners?" (General Comments)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 A nice interesting course. The weather was unfortunate, which made me dislike the long cold walk back to the convention center to get rid of my chip. Absolutely no food left when I finished, even tho' I beat the cut off!!! Course was well marked, good mile markers....maybe they could sell some to the Lakeshore Marathon in Chicago? | |
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A Runner from Ft. Thomas, KY
(4/29/2002)
"Generally a great race experience." (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I am consistently right around a 3:55-4:15 marthoner, who has now completed seven marathons. I am by no means an authority, but here is my take on the race. The Good (and there is a lot of good): The course, which is one of the most important things about any race, was excellent. Despite the hills (and there are two significant sections of hills, I like a race that takes you through many different areas and with changing sites. This race takes you through old residential areas, two parks, downtown, and along the river, in addition to taking you past Churchill downs, UofL's Footall Stadium, the Louisville Slugger bat museum, and the City's new minor league ballpark. It may not seem like passing any of these minor/major landmarks would be a big deal, but I find anything that can occupy my mind for any period of time (no matter how brief) is a welcome site. Louisville is a much nicer city than the impression one gets from the 1-65 corridor. The crowd support on the first half was incredible. Unfortunately it probably only served to emphasize how little support there was on the back half. Course support was very good. This is going to sound minor, but I really liked that fact that the Powerade was straight from the bottle meaning it actually had some taste, rather than the over diluted replacement drink most races serve. In addition, this is the first race in which the water at the water stops was in a bottle and not a cup. The advantage (if there is any) is that it is a little easier to drink, the disadvantage is that the caps that were thrown down were a little slick and rough on the feet. I have heard criticism of the race shirt, but I had no problem with it. Blue long sleeve dri-release shirt with the race emblem on the chest. The Bad: The Expo was very weak and the selection of merchandise was poor. No goody bag. The medal was very ordinary. The Ugly: A category I reserve for my biggest gripe. After the race, having to walk back to the convention center to turn in my chip to get my shirt. I know losing chips is a concern of every race and race director, but this is the first (marathons, 1/2 marathons, and even a 10K) race that they have ever just not collected the chips at the finish area. After running 26 miles few of us want to add on even a couple more blocks prior to leaving and here they required you to walk 3 blocks back to the convention center to turn in your chip. Overall a good race experience, expecially for a first time event. | |
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A Runner from Washington, DC
(4/28/2002)
 "Great community event!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I did the 2002 half ('miniMarathon') but it was run on the same course as the first half of the inaugural full marathon. Great event, well-organized with about 7000 in the half, but I didn?t realize there were going to be such major hills at the beginning! It twists around an urban park set on top of a hill with winding undulating roads for the first 6 miles, then heads straight and flat into downtown Louisville to finish at the convention center. Great course for negative splits! Wonderful community support with lots of people on their front lawns cheering us on most of the way. It was great running weather ? 50s and overcast, and just as I finished and collected my medal the rain began to fall. About 1100 people ran the inaugural marathon and it had good reports, although this year I would have spent the entire second half in heavy rain, so I?m glad I wasn?t out there! A few minor complaints: 1) Getting to the start and finish of the race was confusing for us out-of-towners, especially since packet pickup was on a weekday downtown with no parking available. This was compounded by: 2) No course maps! The one on the web was unprintable and didn't show the context, and none were available at the expo. The only decent one I found was in the local newspaper. 3) No mylar blankets, and we could have used them when we were wandering around in the rain trying to figure out where to return our chips and pick up our t-shirts after the race (also not clear to tired runners). | |
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A Runner from Michigan
(4/28/2002)
 "beautiful course BUT! poor organization" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 I think they forgot about the marathoners. After the half marathoners split off, the course crowd support was zero, port a johns poorly placed and too few, and there was no food left when the marathoners came in. You had to finish to get your T-shirt, but walking back to the Convention Center 3rd floor was uncalled for. Lastly there were not enough vendors at the expo and no big sponsors (Powerbar, Gu, Gatorade nothing). Race needs a lot of improvement before we will come back. | |
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A Runner from Alabama
(4/28/2002)
"Great organization!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 This was a great race. The organization, small water bottles at the water stations, and available portable toilets were a nice luxury. The course was marked very well, and the best part was the person at the mile markers calling the projected finish time at the runner's present pace. That was the best! I wish all races provided such a convenience. This course had hills. It was not advertised as having hills, but the first thirteen miles through the two parks were full of hills. It was pretty, but I would have preferred to know about them in advance. I did manage a PR on this race. I would highly recommend this race, and would highly recommend the runners to spend time visiting the area. It was beautiful. | |
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A Runner from Atlanta, GA
(4/28/2002)
"Well-done marathon with good local support!" (about: 2002)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 The folks in Louisville did a great job in their first year (29th half-marathon, though). Hotel and convention center very close to finish line, lots of great fan support along the way, and the local police were great as well. Course was good...hills at mile 5-6, and one moderate hill at mile 17. Nice running through parks, neighborhoods, and some downtown areas. I can't say enough about the warmth and support of the local crowds, although the quantity of support dropped off a bit after the half-marathon split off. I'll be back next year (nice medal and shirt, too)! | |
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A Runner from Louisville, KY
(3/1/2002)
 "First Year Marathon" (General Comments)
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is actally the first year that KDF is adding a marathon to the already existing mini. The organization is great and the marathon will be run over the first 12 miles with the half and then break off finishing at the same place. There will be about 8,000 runners in all. |
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