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May 1, 2024

Louisville Marathon Runner Comments

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Course 3.9

Organization 3.6

Spectators 2.3

Number of comments: 112 [displaying comments 41 to 51]

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M. N. from Newburgh IN (11/2/2007) "Lonely Run and Bad Start" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Rough start because people were not lined up by time. You shouldn't have to try to get around walkers, especially on such a narrow course. I almost tripped on a baby-jogger - those shouldn't be allowed. Once you get past the half-marathon's turnaround point, it's a very lonely run. The last 6 miles I hardly saw anybody, and volunteers were not great about directing. A couple of times I had to stop and interrupt their conversations to ask which direction to run.
Mike Greer from Falls Church, VA (10/30/2007) "Great marathon for your fall season lineup!" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I am originally from Louisville and have heard this is the 'flat and fast one' compared to the Derby Marathon. It was a fantastic experience! I 'skewed up' the scores for the fans, since my brother and his entire family came out to support me and one of my running buddies, 'Coast Guard' Joe, also from Louisville. I agree with others that the water bottles worked out great; the Heed drink was blah (please replace with a citrus flavored sports drink like Gatorade); the technical sweatshirt and the KY state/shoe design medal were both unique; and you don't need to do much more marketing for this one. Although the RD says registrations increased maybe 400 over 2006, I really like the 1,000 to 2,500 size marathons. Large runner fields and mega audiences can zap your energy sometimes. This was my 37th marathon to date (38th was the MCM this past Sunday)...and I will definitely be back for another Louisville marathon! GO ROCKS! (THS 76)
S. S. from Ft. Collins, CO (10/26/2007) "Nice Town, Solid Race" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 It was a good course, very flat, and mostly through parks and on bike paths. Mostly asphalt, with some concrete. It's a quiet marathon; there are very few spectators. The weather was on the warm side for me (coming from CO) but not too humid, not unbearable, not Chicago ;-) I got to show off my jumping skills at the dock at mile 8. They had these boat tie downs for the Belle of Louisville tourist boat, and I was weaving around them, just for fun. The last one was sort of blocked off by the corner of these concrete steps, so I jumped the lowest step in a completely over-the-top Austin Powers intro way. I'm totally going to run my next marathon in a blue crushed velvet suit, frilly lace cravat, 'male' symbol gold medallion, and Italian leather loafers (Bongiorno, boys!) Well that got the, uh, crowd going... And look I found a picture of the exact boat tie down! http://louisville.edu/music/localresources/images/jazz/IASJ%202006/Jam%20Sessions%20for%20Web%20resized/Cruise%20For%20Web/Dock.jpg That's awesome. None of those people were there at the marathon though. Just picture A_ jumping over the tie down and step: http://www.filmposters.it/imgposter/grandi/austinpowers1.jpg But I digress; of course it's easy to feel good at mile 8. It's not so easy to feel good at mile 19. I got tired, and my 7:50 pace degenerated into an 8:20. I brought 2 gu gels with me, I probably should have brought 4. I figured the race would have gu or something similar at the aid stations, but they only had water and heed sports drink. As others have said, the little water bottles were awesome; you didn't have to slow down to hydrate, and you could dump water over your head if you had extra and were approaching another aid station. The way the finish is arranged you run up a slight incline and pull a U-turn, and run back down to the actual finish line. So you pass by the finish at about mile marker 26. My PR is 3:30, so I was trying to break that. I heard the announcer call out 3:29 on the other side when I crossed the 26 mile mark, and then I knew I was toast Even in my math-impaired state I knew I couldn't cover 0.2 in one minute and break 3:30. I rounded the corner and thought, well, my PR is actually 3:30-somehting (couldn't remember exactly; 3:30:32 it turns out); I could still hit that! I gave the finish a sprint of some sort ('finish strong', right?), and the clock was pushing 3:31. Not good! The race was chip timed so there would be some bonus from my start delay, but likely not 20 seconds worth (there was about 6 seconds delay as it turns out). In the end I missed a PR by 20 seconds - doh. I got my medal, got some water, and lay down in the grass. Nice finish area, by the way, very spacious. While lying down I poured a bottle of water on my face, which went right up my nose. Always unpleasant. Then I took off my shoes and socks to admire the blood blister on the front of my big toe. Then I got up and decided that things weren't so bad. I walked back to the Ramada across the street. The Ramada was very convenient to the start/finish; it is extremely nice to be able to walk to the starting line. The hotel was not fancy, nor was it expensive. So you get what you pay for. If amenities are more important than location to you, I would recommend looking for another hotel. They had a swimming pool but it was closed. The free breakfast buffet was ok, nothing special (would like eggs!), and the pre-race dinner was decent but a bit over-priced ($13). I'd never been to Louisville before, and I was favorably impressed. It is a nice city with some fun things to see and do. We found some great places to eat, including a couple of restaurants that had a lot of vegetarian options. The weather was excellent until the day after the marathon, when a massive rainstorm blanketed the area. Good thing it held off until after the race!
c. t. from Borden (10/25/2007) "good work" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Thank you everyone for all your support. Louisville is an excellent place to have this marathon. The weather was excellent for the race.
M. W. from Atlanta, GA (10/24/2007) "Excellent Race" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 First time running this race and was a little leery given the low frills. But it was a very well organized race on a nice (very little city street running) flat, scenic course. The 8 oz. bottles of water were great. I was worried about support given the size of the race but the volunteers were great. No huge crowds but those that were there were very supportive. And I liked no huge crowds. I get enough of that at other races. It was nice to run a quiet marathon.
S. N. from Ky. (10/23/2007) "Back to the basics..relaxing race" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 A nice flat course with some shade in several park areas. Very easy access to start and finish area. Worth the entry fee!
Cliff Franklin II from Milan, MI (10/23/2007) "Great Small Race" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Nice course, I enjoyed running through the parks and the weather was awesome. Did get a little lonely in the last 4 miles. Had a great time, 2 weeks after Chicago I managed to cut off a 1/2 hour! (Don't know if that'll ever happen again) Some of the pluses - 1) PB&J and the finish was a great touch 2) Shirt is very cool, kind of like a pull over windbreaker/technical 3) Small bottles of water were nice, I'd never seen this before and it made it easier to run & drink. Suggestions for improvement - 1) Most of the first 3 miles is on narrow trails, I would suggest not having any part of the course in the first 5 miles to let people spread out 2) I thought the Heed was nasty 3) Although the race might not be big enough for pace teams, I think there should be some kind of organization at the starting line, maybe have signs for a minute/mile pace to line everyone up. I was trying to pass walkers in the first 100 ft. These people should have had enough sense to be at the end of the line, but I guess not. 4) This is a must - Need to get rid of the house arrest tether chip and switch to the one in the shoe. Started bothering me around mile 16 and I switched it at 18, but I still have some nasty chaffing on my ankle.
D. A. from Kentucky (10/23/2007) "Great race, fast course" (about: 2007) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I enjoyed this marathon. The (paved) paths along the Ohio River are wonderful and the parks are even better. I loved the drum band. We got off course twice in the park and hope the course can become foolproof. I agree that the Heed beverage could be improved upon. Overall, this was one of my favorite marathons.
J. C. from NEWPORT KY. 41071 (10/22/2007) "great race - perfect organization" (about: 2007) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Louisville Marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Everything was perfect - even the course was well marked or had a volunteer to keep you going in the right direction. The only complaint - a hot day and us slow runners need more water, especially over the last 6 miles. I don't know if they ran out, but every mile instead of every two miles would have been better.... I love this race and will be back. It's a very good race - that needs more recognition. The shoe design on the shirt and medal was awesome.
S. P. from Western Ohio (10/22/2007) "Very nice, low-key Marathon" (about: 2007) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Louisville Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Finally, a marathon that allowed me to sleep in! The starting location was great in that it allowed access with virtually no traffic problems, plenty of parking space, an 8am start time and a host hotel right at the location. I have never had such easy access to a marathon start and that was wonderful. The course was very nice, definitely flat and shaded throughout much of the run. I rather enjoy the urban runs that go through downtown and communities and this run lacks that. Almost no spectators, other than those there to cheer on someone they knew, but the few that were there were very supportive. The volunteers were fantastic. 'GatorAde' and 'Heed' are not interchangeable words and I was disappointed to find that it was actually Heed that was served rather than the advertised Gatorade. No biggie but Heed is definitely an inferior product, IHMO. Also, I wish all runs provided technical shirts. Those would be great advertisement, especially for the smaller races, since people wear them in other races. Overall, great run, great organization and, while it isn't one I'll do again, I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the area.

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