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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 51 to 61]
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d. g. from hawesville, ky
(4/27/2013)
 "Organization is slipping." (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 Today I ran my 36th Mini. You know I must love it to keep coming back, but the organization seems to get worse each year. The convention center has always been open in the past for rest rooms and shelter before the start and after the finish. Today the rest room areas were locked. Big disappointment. I much preferred the finish line up where it used to be. I live 85 miles away and drive in on race day. Having to make a special trip to pick up my bib is a major inconvenience and expense. If a group of us could send our email/ID with one person that would be a great help. What's up with the lack of water at the finish? I agree with the comments I read after the race. Forget the Marathon unless you can figure out how to do a better job. In 36 years this is my first letter of complaint and I'd like to know that someone actually reads it. Also, the results page is pitiful compared to the past. I have typed in my name and the name of many of my friends who ran and get no results. In the past being able to search the results several different ways was excellent. | |
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C. M. from Pensacola, FL
(10/20/2012)
 "Fun race...great route!" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Loved this marathon! Great course, beautiful route...you even get to run through Churchill Downs! Hilly at the end, but a good challenge. I would definitely do this race again! | |
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A. B. from Boston area, MA
(10/8/2012)
 "Needs improvement" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I ran this marathon because it was a reunion race for the 50 States Marathon Club. The race committee did an amazing job of welcoming us and being hospitable towards the club; thank you!! Louisville was a great city and there are a lot of fun things to do. The race itself brought us through some interesting areas of the city and I loved going through Churchill Downs! That in and of itself was priceless. The race is dominated by the half marathoners and the course was crowded until they broke off. The second half of the race is challenging but scenic. I was VERY disappointed with the finish line area. No chocolate milk as promised and the only food I could find was a stale bagel. Some SERIOUS improvements need to be made here. I suspect the half marathoners took the food but I can't be sure. On course the use of plastic cups was annoying. For a shorter race I don't mind plastic cups but for a big race like this it was annoying to run on the ones on the ground; plus, you can't pinch them to drink from. I stayed at the Hampton Inn which was in walking distance of the expo, start, and finish. Highly recommend! One final area of improvement: the race committee needs to do a better job of responding to Facebook posts. Some questions went unanswered for WEEKS and some never got answered. Don't have a FB page if you're not going to respond to people. With some improvements this race could be an awesome one! | |
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D. P. from Clarksville, TN
(10/6/2012)
"Beautiful Course but Disorganized Start and Finish" (about: 2012)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This was my 4th marathon and I set a PR of 9 minutes. I enjoyed the course, even the hilly portions. However, at the start, I could not find the port o johns anywhere! Then at the finish, I was given only 1/2 cup of water. They were out of water and all food. Nada. This is inexcusable. I finished in 4:36, which is slow, but still! | |
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A. C. from Puerto Rico
(5/30/2012)
"Sadly mediocre" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 I LOVED Louisville! The people were wonderful, the hotel fabulous, the town really nice. The marathon? What a bummer. Having run the Flying Pig a couple of years back, I agree with the writer who says that KDF and Flying Pig make stark contrasts. Plus: As others mentioned, the loop through Churchill Downs was really keen! The hills in the park were tough but it sure was pretty. The town itself is worth the visit. Negative: 1) Start was a nightmare. Too many people in too little space. Of the 30+ marathons I've run, this had to be the worst start I've seen. 2) Also, like others, I never found porta-potties. Seems they were all at the finish and, thus, behind us as we started. Not intuitive. Made the worst start ever even more hideous. 3) The expo was nice for the size of the marathon, but limited attention to key details was a problem. When I went to pick up my number the folks there said, 'We're out of safety pins (for the numbers).' They suggested I go buy some?! I'm from out of state so I asked where and they were 'sure there was a pharmacy somewhere nearby.' Not helpful the night before a race. If there was a pharmacy so close, someone on the race committee needed to go buy those pins themselves and make them available. 4) I agree that the finish was strange - I wandered around until I found bagels and bananas and that was that. Not much considering the size of the run. 5) The course wasn't very spectator friendly. That is, my husband and I were staying at a race hotel (inside the loop). He wasn't allowed out in his car due to barricades. Result? We mapped out where I'd see him at various mile markers but he couldn't get 'out' of the course. This should be taken into consideration - | |
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D. S. from Dayton OH
(5/15/2012)
"Post Race Let Down" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 Started the 2012 racing season in Louisville and was fired up going into the race. Overall it was OK but there was so much that could have been done better. The Good: The course was laid out well and the stretch through Churchill Downs was a nice touch. I loved the hills in the park as they added some needed variety. The medal is nice. The city support was plentiful when I rolled through...thanks Louisville PD! The Bad: The expo was a crowded serpentine and too much space was given to the pasta dinner. They had too many reserved tables that went unused at the dinner so us non-special folks had to sit so far back you couldn't hear the speaker. I ate and left. The start area was very crowded and I never found porta-johns...saw many people using alleys and trees. On the course, they used non-flexible plastic cups which were hard to drink out of...give me paper I can pinch any day (or use straws like Lincoln NE). The Ugly: The finish area was an afterthought. You got your medal, a bottle of water and your photo...you didn't find bagels/bananas unless you wandered around and these were open to the public who were obviously enjoying the fruits of my labor. No more drinks after that initial water bottle. No massage tables to be seen (I heard they were there but you had to make reservations...really?) The free beer was good if you didn't mind the walk. Bottom Line: I felt like I was at a carnival game: 'Thanks for playing...now clear out.' The space is there for a well-organized finish area. The event has the potential to be so much more...I don't think I'll go back to find out though. | |
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D. N. from Brentwood, TN
(5/15/2012)
 "Nice Marathon, Highly Recommend!" (about: 2012)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 After reading the comments from past years, I went into this marathon with low expectations. Based on the comments, I was really concerned about the hills. For the most part, the course is pretty flat, with the exception of going through the park (miles 10-14) and then at the end (miles 22-24). At the park, sure there were hills, but it was very shaded and there were some good downhills as well that allowed you some time to recover. The other main concern was merging back in with the half marathoners for the later part of the race. I did not experience any problems with them getting in my way and I appreciated the added support from the crowd and 1/2 marathoners. In many marathons, this is when there is no crowd support to be found. The expo was a little weak, but definitely acceptable for the size of race. Overall I would highly recommend! | |
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P. N. from Indiana
(5/9/2012)
"Disappointed" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The course was lovely for a big city race as long as you prepare for the hills and running through the Derby area was a plus. There were too few port a pots until mile 8. The clear cups with the blue stripes were confusing- at a distance it was difficult to tell if water or blue Powerade was in the cups. This was confounded by having water 1st at some stops and Powerade 1st at others. I echo comments from others about the food. I am a mid pack marathoner and there was no Powerade left and only bagels and bananas at the end. Finally, my 'small' shirt was the size of a men's medium. | |
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G. S. from Louisville,KY
(5/8/2012)
"Not a bad race" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 1. Full /half merge not a problem this year. 2. I took a little over 4 hrs for marathon. Not great, not terrible. Only bananas, bagels, water at finish. Get a separate line or area for marathoners. I saw half finishers walking down the street w/ enough snacks to feed their families. 4. Last 10k is brutal. Several tough hills. | |
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p. m. from Louisville, ky
(5/7/2012)
"Just stick with the Mini" (about: 2012)
11-50 previous marathons
| 4-5 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 I ran the Derby Marathon in 2012 and then the next week did Flying Pig in Cincinatti. What a stark contrast. The Pig knows what they are doing, and KDF obviously doesn't. The course was good. I live in Louisville, so I trained on all the hills. Water stops were good and plentiful. STarting line was CROWDED. Why are they bunching you up down Main St. You've got the whole road, spread people out. The Finish line, NOTHING TO EAT!! I just ran 26 miles and literally there was nothing at the finish line. At Cincy they had yogurt, chips, cookies, plenty of water gatorade. At Derby, I was offered a half cup of water. Why don't you guys just stick with the Mini. The marathon is a joke. Just add 2000 more people to the mini. |
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