Kentucky Derby Marathon

I had never heard of this marathon until Scott Hala mentioned it in his blog. I chose it because 1) It's close and cheap, 2) It didn't look too hilly. Reviews on MarathonGuide.com were pretty horrendous with one even stating that "it was the worst marathon ever." I try to take MarathonGuide reviews with a grain of salt and figured nothing could be that bad and the reviewer probably just had an ax to grind. Anyway, it was a marathon and I needed a marathon to make all this marathon training worthwhile!

I got in the Hot Mom Car and headed south to Louisville yesterday afternoon. It's a beautiful drive and I must confess, I've probably only driven south on I-71 one other time in my life. It's sad how we so seldom go to the places that are closest to us. Like Chicago (for me). I got into town about 5:00 and the Belle of Louisville was in her dock right next my hotel. Did you know the Ohio River is about a mile wide in Louisville? Coming from Cincinnati, I wasn't even certain for a second that it was the Ohio. You could practically throw a stone across it where I live! I suppose that's what made Cincinnati such a good location for slaves seeking freedom. One could actually make it across without drowning!

The expo was very small. I picked up my packet which caused a little bit of confusion initially because I used my own chip -- the one that I neglected to return after running New York. It was easily cleared up and my chip worked fine. The t-shirt was a crummy long sleve cotton number. Runners also got a poster in their goody bag. I tried to get a pace band, but the pacers were a fairly loose lot, not sponsored by anyone, and they didn't have any pace bands. They told me to go to marathonguide.com and print one out. Sorry buddies. I left the laptop at home this time.
I set my treo and the hotel alarm clock for 4 AM and decided to pack up all my stuff and drop it off at the car before heading to the race. Who needs a shower after a marathon anyway? I can just put the top down.

Getting to the start was a breeze. There were plenty of busses to get us to Iraquis Park. It was raining and it's the first time I ever actually wore the garbage bag that I, miraculously, remembered to bring with me. Gear check was a snap, two trips to the port-o-potty, and it was time to start. Right away I had a little mishap occur. I had a little gu pouch clipped on my skirt. As soon as I started to run, the pouch fell off. When I turned around to retrieve it, I was almost trampled by a heard of runners. Scary!

The course must have been designed by the Marquis DeSade. And he must have designed the elevation chart for the website as well, because it clearly is a lie. The first six miles winds through Iraquis Park. First it winds up, then down, then up, then down. Steep hills and hairpin turns. I got plenty of practice running tangents! I felt like I was staying on pace, but I was also concerned about the toll the hills were taking on my legs so early in the race. My splits are crazy and reflect the craziness of the course.

At about mile 9 the course goes through a slum area and suddenly we're going to enter Churchill Downs. I had totally forgotten about that! The funny thing is that unlike running in Anaheim Stadium, Churchill Downs was not really a highlight of the course for me. It was windy inside and I felt like I was just running on a concrete track (which I was). Empty vendor booths were set up already for next week's Derby but nothing exciting here. The real excitement happened around mile 10-11. It was here that I had the pleasure of running with the Louisville Running Elvi. About 10 Elvises in full Elvis regalia, one pushing a baby stroller with a boom box blasting Elvis tunes. It was awesome! Best part of the race for me.

Out of 12,000 runners, only 1200 run the full marathon so when the split came at mile 12 it made for a lonely 14 remaining miles. Where the first part of the race was heavily supported by crowds and music, the second half of the race was desolate. I didn't really care because I was concentrating on my own race. Water and powerade were still plentiful as were plenty of sportbean stops but fans were few and far between. There were two more parks between 14 and 18. Both were of the same character as the first park. Up, down, wind around. My quads were shredded by the time I got to 18. Really, I considered quitting. If my husband had come to watch, I'm certain I would have bagged it and had him take me home. It was that bad.
At mile 22 someone had the bright idea to make the marathoners cross the Ohio River into Indiana and then come back to Louisville. Really, this is how it happens: runners are barely making it after 20 because of all the damage from the previous hills. At 21 we come back into downtown and run right next to the finish party. It would be so easy to just cut over and join the fun if it wasn't for the fence! We shuffle into town and next thing we know at the mile 22 sign we're crossing a huge bridge. Remember I said the Ohio was a mile wide here? We stagger up the bridge and get a glimpse of the runners coming back down. So, to add insult to injury, we now know that not only are we going to run all the way across this bridge but we are going to come back the exact same way. And we do it. But we're not done yet. Once across the bridge there's still another 1.5 miles to go. By the time I got to the finish line I had nothing left for my kick. The medal is cool, but those 10,000 half-marathoners swiped all the mylar blankets leaving none for the marathoners. If you ask me, running a marathon is twice as awesome as running a half and more deserving of a cape of awesomness. Better yet, provide enough for all the runners!

I trained my butt off for a 4:20 marathon and felt that I could have actually beat it. I felt like I had 4:20 in me when I ran NY but for having to start so far back. I PR'd by 2 minutes and it's a 10 minute PR since last May, but I'm disappointed that the course wasn't as advertised. Why include an elevation chart if you're going to smoothe out the hills and lop off 100 feet? How does that help me make an informed decision? I know this sounds whiny. I'm the one who picked the marathon and I should have believed what I read in marathon guide. I'm an optimist though and it was a beautiful course, especially with all the trees in bloom. And the Belle of Louisville had her caliope playing which was cool. I guess I'll have to wait until Columbus where they say "their world is flat." I've been there. I know it is.

PUBLISHED ELEVATION AND ACTUAL ELEVATION COMPARISON: