I absolutely loved this race! Let's start with the Expo. My husband and I had an AirBnB within walking distance, which was nice, and I also saw people directing parking, too. Brooks had a really nice set up with lots of race merchandise, and they were serving champagne (my favorite part). Packet pickup was super easy. The only thing I wasn't a fan of is that instead of a shirt, we received a Brooks shoe bag. I personally would've preferred a shirt.

On race day, my husband and I walked to Forsyth Park. I didn't need a porta potty but there seemed to be plenty available. Getting into the corral was also super easy. I don't remember the name of the race announcer but she was super enthusiastic and made things fun.

The race itself was a blast! As a tourist, I really loved everything about the course and being able to see Savannah from this perspective. A man was dressed as Forrest Gump and sitting at Chippewa Square, which was cool. Also, we ran on the Savannah Banana field, which was amazing! My husband was super jealous. Although I didn't stop at any, there were plenty of aid stations. I don't remember there being any hills, which was nice!

The after party was super fun! There were photo opportunities, a band (playing a great mix of songs!), and everyone had two drink tickets. My husband and I got our seltzers and relaxed in the grass. The medal was huge and really pretty.

Overall, the race was really well organized. Oh, and the photos were FREE!!

This was my fourth time running this race - basically, the only year I've missed since I started was 2020 (#thankscovid), so that should tell you how much I love it.

The pros:
- The course. Much of the course is around the part of Louisville that I spend the most time in, so I love running through it! I admit that I really, really miss the pre-covid course that went through Cherokee Park, and I was happy to see that this year's course was a step back in that direction by going down Lexington Road toward the park.
- The after party. Seriously. There ain't no party like a UBHM party! Every runner gets a wristband that gets them four bourbon tastings, two beers, a slice of pizza, and some burgoo. You can also buy a wristband for family members, so my husband met me down there. There's also a live band that plays fun cover songs.
- The swag. UBHM usually has pretty awesome shirts and medals.

There were a couple of cons:
- If you like a big expo, you won't see that here. It's typically pretty small, but Fleet Feet always has a store set up AND there's a free bourbon tasting...so is that really a con?
- The mile markers were pretty off this year - in some cases, about .20 miles off.
- The band at the after party is pretty loud.

Overall, I think the number of times I've participated in this race speaks for how much I enjoy it. I would really love to see the course return to its original route, but I'll keep running this one year after year.

The Louisville Triple Crown of Running is a spring tradition, though it's experienced some ups and downs over the last two years as it's changed hands. While it's a three race series (5k, 10k, and the new 15k), I only participated in the 15k.

Packet pickup was located at Louisville Slugger Field, and parking in their lot was free - a nice bonus for downtown Louisville! I was picking up my packet and the packet of an out-of-town friend and had zero issues - just pulled the QR codes up on my phone for the volunteers to scan.

I had heard that the shirts in the 5k and 10k ran really small, so I asked the volunteer if I could take out my shirt and try it on. She let me know that these were running more true to size, but offered to help me. They weren't just shirts - these were really nice quarter-zip shirts of a nice, heavy material. And it indeed fit true to size!

Other than the packet pickup, there wasn't much going on at the Expo. Fleet Feet was set up with some gear, but I unfortunately didn't have time to check it out.

On race morning, I parked about a mile away and jogged to the start with a friend. There wasn't a huge crowd of participants, and we were divided into three corrals. To help with crowding, they waited a minute or two between corrals.

The course was great! It wound through downtown Louisville before heading east on River Road for an out-and-back. Some people think out-and-backs are boring, but I disagree. I love being able to see all the other participants and cheer them on! We saw the winner and several friends who were faster than us, and after we reached the turnaround, we saw several other friends. There were a handful of water stops and they also had some nutrition, but I always carry my own so I didn't stop.

After crossing the finish line, my friend and I picked up our medals. They seemed to have a lot of snacks available but I wasn't hungry so I didn't stop. We chatted with a few other friends after they finished and they had pockets full of snacks they had picked up.

One thing I really loved about this race is that the photos were FREE! And they were good! I've paid for photos in the past that weren't as good as these free ones. What a great value!

All in all, this was a great race and I'll definitely run it again next year!