Kentucky Derby Festival

Kentucky Derby Festival

Kentucky Derby Festival

( 52 reviews )
98% of reviewers recommend this race
  • Louisville,
    Kentucky,
    United States
  • April
  • 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, Relay
  • Road Race
  • Event Website

Tom

Chicago, Illinois, United States
51 60
2011
"Great Race to kick off the Kentucky Derby Fest"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Tom 's thoughts:

For anyone that's wondering what a Mini Marathon is: it's a half marathon. The only two races I've done that were called mini marathons were in Louisville and Indianapolis so I'm not sure if the name is a regional thing or where it actually originated. I've heard that there are a few other half marathons that are occasionally referred to as "minis" as well though, so if you ever see one of them advertised, keep in mind that the distance is still the standard 13.1 miles and the race is the same as any other half.

Louisville is not a big city, but it is pretty easy to get to. It has an international airport that's conveniently located, and if you live in the midwest, a drive from Chicago, Nashville, Indianapolis, St. Louis, or Cincinnati will only take a few hours. The biggest tip that I can give you if you're traveling to Louisville for this race is to book your hotel room as early as you can. The race is a week before the actual Kentucky Derby but since it's part of the overall Kentucky Derby Festival, there are a lot of other events in and around Louisville besides the race throughout the week, so hotel rooms are at a premium and tend to fill up way in advance.

The race expo is at the Kentucky International convention center on the Thursday and Friday before the race. It has about 50 vendors, which is a good number for a race of this size. In addition to the standard race t-shirt and other giveaways, the goodie bag also includes two tickets to the Kentucky Oaks, which is a race for thoroughbred fillies held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year. So if you're planning on staying for the entire week or going back for the Derby the following weekend, you and a guest can get into that event for free.

The course is a loop that starts and finishes near the South Great Lawns on the Louisville Riverfront. The course is a bit hilly, but not terrible - a beginner could still do this one with the right amount of training. It's also scenic and offers views of some of the best attractions around Louisville along with a mixture of downtown and suburban areas which have really nice Victorian architecture and some amazing looking historic churches. The course passes by Louisville Slugger Field fairly early on and miles 6, 7, 9, and 10 for the Mini go through the University of Louisville Campus. The biggest attraction of the race is probably mile 8, which is a loop through the infield at Churchill Downs. After leaving Churchill Downs the full and mini courses split. The mini heads back north towards the finish line while the full heads south and does a loop around Iroquois Park before heading back north towards the finish.

This course is also pretty well known for having a lot of crowd support. The majority of the crowds can be found in the downtown areas near the start and finish lines but there are a number of spectators and volunteers who line the streets throughout the course. There's also a big party at the finish line along with an big carnival with games and rides, which is one of the things that makes race weekend really kid friendly.

For obvious reasons, the medal for this race always has a theme that's related to the Kentucky Derby. In the past, it's been shaped like a horse, a horseshoe, the Churchill Downs facade or something similar. In 2011, the medal was all silver with a winged horse on it. Even though it isn't the most colorful medal I own, it still has a really classy look and I like it a lot.

A nice thing about Louisville is that even for its size, it's still a fairly compact city that's easy to get around in without a car if you stay downtown. Even though my hotel was on the other side of the city, it was only about a 15 minute walk from the start and finish lines on race day. Churchill Downs and the Convention Center where the expo were close by too and I never had problems finding places to eat that were within walking distance either. That being said though, there are a lot of good attractions to check out on the outskirts of the city too, so depending on what your plans for the weekend are, you might still want to rent a car.

Overall, there's a really good reason that the Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon is consistently ranked among the nation’s top 100 races by USA Track and Field. The course is a bit hilly and challenging, but it's also scenic and has a ton of crowd support and the overall event is organized really well. Plus. with so much going on during the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby, there's no doubt that any runners who travel to Louisville for race weekend will have an awesome time finding things to do in and around the city during race weekend (Louisville Slugger Bat Museum, Kentucky Derby Museum, Kentucky Bourbon Trail Tours, etc...). I would definitely recommend this race to anyone that's interested in checking it out, and my other piece of advice would be to not plan on going to Louisville just for the race, but to make sure you take a few extra days to enjoy the atmosphere and some of the other attractions that the city has to offer leading up to the Derby.

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