If you want a challenging course, the 36 hills over a half marathon distance in Run the Bluegrass will give you that. If you want gorgeous scenery, the beauty of Kentucky horse country will give you that. If you want an aid station with beer at mile 11, you got here.

Great course. Awesome atmosphere. Super challenging, but absolutely one of the best organized races I've ever run.

Registration for the race is expensive what the experience you receive. Close to $100 right off the bat for registration is a lot.

The race is at the Parklands in Louisville, Kentucky. It's a privately owned park that is beautiful year round. It's hilly. The course is extremely challenging (1,100 feet of elevation gain). It has a lot of flat ground (an out and back course), with big hills at 3, 11-15 and 23.

The volunteers are great, but because of the nature of the race (along a concrete path), there weren't a lot of spectators. There were water stations ever 2ish~ miles. Probably could have used more, but the ones that were there were well manned with supportive crew, especially considering it was only about 40 degrees that day.

The course is well marked.

A few problems:

1. The emcee at the start/finish was extremely obnoxious.
2. It seemed like there were no race officials at all through out the race, save for the beginning and the turn around.
3. The finish line was almost barren of what runners need after finishing a half or full marathon. No fruit, no bagels, no Gatorade, no chocolate milk. Just water and beer. There were free pieces of Derby Pie and granola bars about 200 feet away.
4. Overall communication from the race itself was minimum up until about 48 hours before the race. Parking wasn't made official until 2:30am the morning of the race. The shuttles to and from the parking lot were not communicated well. The email/website said go to a location about a quarter mile from the finish, but the shuttles didn't show up there.
5. The pullover is not a tech pullover. This is picky, I know, but they advertise like it's one you'll wear when you're running. You won't. It was flimsy and will likely fall apart during the first wash.
6. The race was mostly on concrete. This is the nature of the Parklands, though, as most of the paths there are concrete. There areas where it is asphalt, which was a nice change for your joints, but the concrete paths really pounded the runners.

Overall, this race (in its first year) has a lot of growing to do, and hopefully would be better organized in the future, but if you're looking for a truly challenging, small marathon, this is a good one to go with.

I have run this race 5 times. Great, flat course. Very well maintained. Amazing crowd and tour of Indianapolis. Tons of different pace groups, so people of every speed can get help meeting their goals. Weather is normally PERFECT for running too. And the post-race celebration area is really great. Not to mention the great running related swag you get at the end!