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Marathon Details - Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

North America Marathons > USA > KY > Louisville > Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon

Louisville, KY USA

April 26, 2025

http://derbyfestivalmarathon.com

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Race Details

The scenic course includes sections of two beautiful city parks designed by the esteemed Fredrick Law Olmsted, historic Churchill Downs, Louisville's newly developed waterfront, and extreme skate park and several eclectic neighborhoods.

Contact Information

Name:	Deja Lawson
Address:	Kentucky Derby Festival 1001 S. Third Street Louisville, KY 40203
Phone Number:	502-584-6383 or 1-800-928-3378
Email:	Email the organizers

Race Organizer

2010 Kentucky Derby Marathon Race (9/11/09)

Chad Pickering

Register Now for the 2010 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon / miniMarathon. Early Registration ends on January 31st. Registration is open to the first 15,000 runners. For more information, please log on to: www.derbyfestivalmarathon.com.

Runner Reviews (362)

Course 4.3

Organization 4.1

Spectators 3.7

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Number of comments: 362 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 37 > ]

T. S. from PA (11/21/2023) "Fun marathon! Fast course but long." (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Louisville is a fun town with lots to do and see. I spent a lot of time sightseeing before the race and there are many hotels to choose from. The expo was a decent size. The shirt was nice, a red half zip. The marathon starts in the city, goes into Churchill Downs - that was so much fun, then eventually over a pedestrian bridge to Indiana and back. I wasn't sure I would enjoy the paved park setting but it was quite enjoyable and I wasn't bored. The last mile featured a nice downhill to the more level finish area, but after all the positive things to say about the course, it measured long. I had 26.66 miles. I know about running tangents and I wasn't the only one whose watch measured a long course. Several people missed a BQ by a few minutes because of it. The medal and post race party were good. There was a long walk back to the city hotels but it gave the legs a good cooldown.
E. F. from Los Altos Hills, CA (4/28/2021) "Incredible Effort by the Organizers During COVID" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was so impressed by the efforts taken by the organizers to produce a safe, in-person marathon. They completely overhauled the course and created a wave system that started at 6:30 am and continued for several hours. The director sent out frequent emails to participants and quickly responded to my questions. On race day, the expected rain storm did not occur until early afternoon. Otherwise, it was perfect conditions for a long run. Louisville is a fun town. I loved staying at the Hotel Distil and recommend the Frankfort Street area for its fantastic restaurants. I can only imagine how great this race will be next year when the traditional run through Churchill Downs returns.
M. W. from North Carolina (1/23/2020) "Churchill Downs Awaits!" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The races are part of a Kentucky Derby Festival, which is a several week celebration climaxing with the running of the Kentucky Derby. There is a marathon, miniMarathon (which is a half marathon), and a marathon relay, all of which take place the weekend before the Kentucky Derby. But the races are just a small part of the Festival, which includes several live music venues, fireworks, hot air balloon fest, and multiple food and drink rodeos. Combining this with the all the sites to see throughout the city and the restaurant and bars make Louisville a place you will want to stay for at least a week! As would be expected, this is a very popular race with typically 12,000+ runners. All the races start at the same time, but many waves. The start is well organized, though we had a little trouble locating the bag drop. The city streets are very wide and easily accommodate the large crowds; I can only recall two pinch points. I estimate only one in six runners are doing the marathon, so it really thins out at the split. The racecourse is pretty flat with the exception of the middle 4 miles of the marathon that run through the hills of Iroquois Park. I thought the course became pretty mundane the last 10+ miles. The aid stations are well placed and plentiful. I thought the crowd support was somewhat less than what I expected, but that doesn't matter to me, and certainly those that were there were loud and supportive. The finish is at Waterfront Park which provides ample room to rest up and fuel up before hitting the showers. Louisville has a rich history and claims to have more restaurants per capita than any other US city. We can vouch that the food choices are varied and delicious. If you are a bourbon fan, this is a must do (suggest drinking the bourbon after the race). You can see more of the race and place on our YouTube channel Race The Nation.
J. S. from ND (8/20/2019) "Interesting race" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The city of Louisville is an interesting place with the Louisville Slugger factory, Mohammad Ali Center, and Churchill Downs. I really enjoyed the race. The hills in the park were tough but I enjoy that. It's not supposed to be easy. Churchill Downs was great and I stopped for a minute to watch the horses work out. I had a great adventure there.
D. D. from Las Vegas, NV (5/5/2019) "What a Fun Race!" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I stayed at the host hotel, Galt House and it made it easy to walk to the expo, start line, and back to the hotel after the race. The whole Kentucky Derby/Louisville experience was pretty cool. The race itself went off without a hitch. The weather was great, just got a bit warm at the end. The only issue I had was spending too much energy in the middle miles, running through Iroqui Park, which was hilly. I missed my BQ by 6 minutes and I think it may have been lost on those hills in the park. It was awesome running through Churchill Downs and seeing the ponies! This is my 28th state and definitely up there as a favorite!
K. M. from VT (4/29/2019) "Great race!" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great organization and beautiful course. Very fun going thru Churchill Downs and the park was great. Hills weren't as bad as people made them sound.
D. A. from Kentucky (4/29/2019) "A Good Choice, but should separate races" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a well organized race with a lot of good things going for it. The course, weather, and people are all good. My only complaint is that the 1/2 marathon and marathon runners are funneled together for the last section, which means marathoners must struggle through 1/2 marathoners running half their pace. This is frustrating and could be dangerous. A good solution would be to run cones down the middle of the road to split the races.
Eric Olson from Omaha, Nebraska (5/2/2018) "great race experience" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I just ran the Kentucky Derby Marathon. Great experience. The organization was outstanding. Nice expo. The bugle call at the start of the race by the same bugler of the Derby was cool. Corrals operated without a hitch. The course is scenic and mostly flat (with the exception of the middle of the race where you run through hills in a beautiful park or nature preserve). The people of Louisville were very welcoming and the folks at our hotel and restaurants were friendly and accommodating. Race day temps were near perfect! (mid-40's to 60 degrees) And even though I'm not 'a horse guy', I have to admit that running through Churchill Downs was awe-inspiring! The pacers I ran with (3:30) were helpful and ran an accurate pace. Even though I cramped up on Mile 26, (probably from the hills back in miles 11-15), I had a great race experience. Aid stations were well stocked, and post-race food was plentiful (bagels, chocolate milk, fruit, etc!) This is the first marathon, where large bottles of PowerAde were offered after the race to help runners replenish after running so hard. My son-in-law ran the Half and was equally impressed. Way to go, Louisville!
S. B. from Waco, TX (5/2/2018) "Smooth Run in Kentucky" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race was a ton of fun and the town of Louisville was very inviting to all of the race participants. It helps that the race is part of the run-up to the Kentucky Derby so the entire city is in a festive mood. I stayed at the host hotel which was located in an active part of downtown just off the Ohio river. The race provided shuttle service to the expo and there was plenty to do within walking distance of the hotel. The expo was actually smaller than I would have thought it should have been given the number of people running in either the full or half marathon. There was everything that a runner might need to pick up if something was left at home or lost to airport security, but not much else to see or that many people to talk to about the race. The race itself started at 7:30 in the morning and we were blessed with perfect weather. It was a fairly crowded start, there didn't seem to be much of an organized wave start in spite of being grouped into corrals. The first half of the course was a tour of several neighborhoods in and around the downtown area of Louisville. It was a mix of affluent older homes and some rougher parts of town, but there were nice crowds that cheered the runners on and provided some un-sanctioned food and drink. Between mile 8 and 9 we reached Churchill Downs and were directed into an area of the race track that allowed us to get some pictures and see some jockeys putting horses through practice on the track. Although we didn't get to run on the track or the infield, our route was inside the gates and provided some great views of the track and grandstands and was a perspective that few people get to see. By mile 11 we transitioned from city running and moved into Iroquois Park. In spite of the toughest hills on the course, the shade and scenery more than made up for the difficult terrain. I run through a hilly park area in training and this section felt fairly comfortable for me in terms of style of run, but the hills were no joke and should be taken seriously. We spent about 4 miles in the hills and then spent the remainder of the run going back through neighborhoods and then back into downtown. The support and scenery definitely take a hit during the last third of the marathon, but this is a complaint that can be lodged against most races that have such a huge half marathon as well. The aid stations seemed to be more sporadic in the last 8 miles as well, but the volunteers never failed to be enthusiastic and supportive. This is a race I highly recommend to anyone doing the 50 states or looking for a good marathon in the Louisville/southern Indiana area. The race is well organized, it's a unique course with an opportunity to see an historic sporting venue. We had great weather and fun crowds for most of the race, I would think that would be well worth a visit to Kentucky.
Eric Schneider from Los Angeles (4/30/2018) "Anthony done right" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Louisville and the race. Plenty of water and Powerade. The course was designed to maximize Louisville's culture and variety and was generally attractive. I don't understand the complaints about the hills in Iroquois Park. If you don't like hills, run some other marathon. Superbly organized.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 37 > ]



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T. S. from PA (11/21/2023) "Fun marathon! Fast course but long." (about: 2023) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Louisville is a fun town with lots to do and see. I spent a lot of time sightseeing before the race and there are many hotels to choose from. The expo was a decent size. The shirt was nice, a red half zip. The marathon starts in the city, goes into Churchill Downs - that was so much fun, then eventually over a pedestrian bridge to Indiana and back. I wasn't sure I would enjoy the paved park setting but it was quite enjoyable and I wasn't bored. The last mile featured a nice downhill to the more level finish area, but after all the positive things to say about the course, it measured long. I had 26.66 miles. I know about running tangents and I wasn't the only one whose watch measured a long course. Several people missed a BQ by a few minutes because of it. The medal and post race party were good. There was a long walk back to the city hotels but it gave the legs a good cooldown.
E. F. from Los Altos Hills, CA (4/28/2021) "Incredible Effort by the Organizers During COVID" (about: 2021) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was so impressed by the efforts taken by the organizers to produce a safe, in-person marathon. They completely overhauled the course and created a wave system that started at 6:30 am and continued for several hours. The director sent out frequent emails to participants and quickly responded to my questions. On race day, the expected rain storm did not occur until early afternoon. Otherwise, it was perfect conditions for a long run. Louisville is a fun town. I loved staying at the Hotel Distil and recommend the Frankfort Street area for its fantastic restaurants. I can only imagine how great this race will be next year when the traditional run through Churchill Downs returns.
M. W. from North Carolina (1/23/2020) "Churchill Downs Awaits!" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 The races are part of a Kentucky Derby Festival, which is a several week celebration climaxing with the running of the Kentucky Derby. There is a marathon, miniMarathon (which is a half marathon), and a marathon relay, all of which take place the weekend before the Kentucky Derby. But the races are just a small part of the Festival, which includes several live music venues, fireworks, hot air balloon fest, and multiple food and drink rodeos. Combining this with the all the sites to see throughout the city and the restaurant and bars make Louisville a place you will want to stay for at least a week! As would be expected, this is a very popular race with typically 12,000+ runners. All the races start at the same time, but many waves. The start is well organized, though we had a little trouble locating the bag drop. The city streets are very wide and easily accommodate the large crowds; I can only recall two pinch points. I estimate only one in six runners are doing the marathon, so it really thins out at the split. The racecourse is pretty flat with the exception of the middle 4 miles of the marathon that run through the hills of Iroquois Park. I thought the course became pretty mundane the last 10+ miles. The aid stations are well placed and plentiful. I thought the crowd support was somewhat less than what I expected, but that doesn't matter to me, and certainly those that were there were loud and supportive. The finish is at Waterfront Park which provides ample room to rest up and fuel up before hitting the showers. Louisville has a rich history and claims to have more restaurants per capita than any other US city. We can vouch that the food choices are varied and delicious. If you are a bourbon fan, this is a must do (suggest drinking the bourbon after the race). You can see more of the race and place on our YouTube channel Race The Nation.
J. S. from ND (8/20/2019) "Interesting race" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 The city of Louisville is an interesting place with the Louisville Slugger factory, Mohammad Ali Center, and Churchill Downs. I really enjoyed the race. The hills in the park were tough but I enjoy that. It's not supposed to be easy. Churchill Downs was great and I stopped for a minute to watch the horses work out. I had a great adventure there.
D. D. from Las Vegas, NV (5/5/2019) "What a Fun Race!" (about: 2019) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I stayed at the host hotel, Galt House and it made it easy to walk to the expo, start line, and back to the hotel after the race. The whole Kentucky Derby/Louisville experience was pretty cool. The race itself went off without a hitch. The weather was great, just got a bit warm at the end. The only issue I had was spending too much energy in the middle miles, running through Iroqui Park, which was hilly. I missed my BQ by 6 minutes and I think it may have been lost on those hills in the park. It was awesome running through Churchill Downs and seeing the ponies! This is my 28th state and definitely up there as a favorite!
K. M. from VT (4/29/2019) "Great race!" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great organization and beautiful course. Very fun going thru Churchill Downs and the park was great. Hills weren't as bad as people made them sound.
D. A. from Kentucky (4/29/2019) "A Good Choice, but should separate races" (about: 2019) 50+ previous marathons \| 2 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathons COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This is a well organized race with a lot of good things going for it. The course, weather, and people are all good. My only complaint is that the 1/2 marathon and marathon runners are funneled together for the last section, which means marathoners must struggle through 1/2 marathoners running half their pace. This is frustrating and could be dangerous. A good solution would be to run cones down the middle of the road to split the races.
Eric Olson from Omaha, Nebraska (5/2/2018) "great race experience" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I just ran the Kentucky Derby Marathon. Great experience. The organization was outstanding. Nice expo. The bugle call at the start of the race by the same bugler of the Derby was cool. Corrals operated without a hitch. The course is scenic and mostly flat (with the exception of the middle of the race where you run through hills in a beautiful park or nature preserve). The people of Louisville were very welcoming and the folks at our hotel and restaurants were friendly and accommodating. Race day temps were near perfect! (mid-40's to 60 degrees) And even though I'm not 'a horse guy', I have to admit that running through Churchill Downs was awe-inspiring! The pacers I ran with (3:30) were helpful and ran an accurate pace. Even though I cramped up on Mile 26, (probably from the hills back in miles 11-15), I had a great race experience. Aid stations were well stocked, and post-race food was plentiful (bagels, chocolate milk, fruit, etc!) This is the first marathon, where large bottles of PowerAde were offered after the race to help runners replenish after running so hard. My son-in-law ran the Half and was equally impressed. Way to go, Louisville!
S. B. from Waco, TX (5/2/2018) "Smooth Run in Kentucky" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race was a ton of fun and the town of Louisville was very inviting to all of the race participants. It helps that the race is part of the run-up to the Kentucky Derby so the entire city is in a festive mood. I stayed at the host hotel which was located in an active part of downtown just off the Ohio river. The race provided shuttle service to the expo and there was plenty to do within walking distance of the hotel. The expo was actually smaller than I would have thought it should have been given the number of people running in either the full or half marathon. There was everything that a runner might need to pick up if something was left at home or lost to airport security, but not much else to see or that many people to talk to about the race. The race itself started at 7:30 in the morning and we were blessed with perfect weather. It was a fairly crowded start, there didn't seem to be much of an organized wave start in spite of being grouped into corrals. The first half of the course was a tour of several neighborhoods in and around the downtown area of Louisville. It was a mix of affluent older homes and some rougher parts of town, but there were nice crowds that cheered the runners on and provided some un-sanctioned food and drink. Between mile 8 and 9 we reached Churchill Downs and were directed into an area of the race track that allowed us to get some pictures and see some jockeys putting horses through practice on the track. Although we didn't get to run on the track or the infield, our route was inside the gates and provided some great views of the track and grandstands and was a perspective that few people get to see. By mile 11 we transitioned from city running and moved into Iroquois Park. In spite of the toughest hills on the course, the shade and scenery more than made up for the difficult terrain. I run through a hilly park area in training and this section felt fairly comfortable for me in terms of style of run, but the hills were no joke and should be taken seriously. We spent about 4 miles in the hills and then spent the remainder of the run going back through neighborhoods and then back into downtown. The support and scenery definitely take a hit during the last third of the marathon, but this is a complaint that can be lodged against most races that have such a huge half marathon as well. The aid stations seemed to be more sporadic in the last 8 miles as well, but the volunteers never failed to be enthusiastic and supportive. This is a race I highly recommend to anyone doing the 50 states or looking for a good marathon in the Louisville/southern Indiana area. The race is well organized, it's a unique course with an opportunity to see an historic sporting venue. We had great weather and fun crowds for most of the race, I would think that would be well worth a visit to Kentucky.
Eric Schneider from Los Angeles (4/30/2018) "Anthony done right" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Louisville and the race. Plenty of water and Powerade. The course was designed to maximize Louisville's culture and variety and was generally attractive. I don't understand the complaints about the hills in Iroquois Park. If you don't like hills, run some other marathon. Superbly organized.

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Marathon Details - Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon