Adding to the list of running business, I completed the Kentucky Derby Marathon in Louisville, Kentucky on April 28, 2012. The Kentucky Derby Marathon was my 19th marathon in my 15th state. (Yep - ONLY 35 more states to go!) As always, these are my random thoughts, more for me to reminisce in the future about the race, but here for all in case one is interested in participating in the future.
Going in to the marathon, I had heard several poor reviews about the event. I felt that the event didn't live up to those standards, but with every marathon I've done there are pros and cons.
The majority of cons in this case were packed into the packet pickup at the Expo. Approximately 3,000 people run the full marathon and 15,000 run the mini-marathon. Upon arriving at the Expo, there was one line for the marathon approximately 40 people deep and 21 lines for the half marathon with hardly anyone in line. (Yes, I stood there and counted.) The mini-marathoners also got practical hunter green short-sleeve shirts. The full marathoners got what I considered a puke gray color, if puke could be gray, long-sleeve shirt. I won't even go into the logo. Guess a gal always needs a throw-away shirt.
Race day did not disappoint. There were ample port-a-potties, the corrals were marked well, and the general start line area appeared to be organized. I met up with Marathon Maniacs and 50 States Marathon Club for our pre-race photo and caught up with some friends before the race.
Since I had just run a full/half weekend before this race, I decided to just have fun and go with the flow. I carried a camera with me and took a few photos the first half of the race. The first 8 miles of the race are very flat and go through scenic portions of Louisville as the course winds it way to Church Hill Downs. At Mile 5, all of us got a good scare when the skies opened up and literally poured for about 2 minutes. Then just magically stopped. Around the same time, I saw my favorite spectator race sign of the day: "You trained for this race longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage." Ha! Creative! There were a few overpass bridges we ran under, and I remember needing to watch my footing. The road surfaces were really uneven.
Church Hill Downs is THE highlight of the race. At Mile 8, runners enter the gates of Church Hill Downs, run under the grand stand past the wagering windows, and through the tunnels beneath the race track. Runners can go off course and peek in at the track where jockeys were exercising the horses. It was definitely a fun mile to see Church Hill Downs and watch the horses on the track. I actually forgot for a moment I was in the first half of a marathon and needed to move along. Leaving Church Hill Downs, and approaching Mile 9, was the course split. I think I will always remember the monotonous chant "Course. Split. A-head. Mar-a-thon-ers.To.The.Right. Mi-ni Mar-a-thon-ers. To. The. Left." (Say it kind of robotically and you have it down.)
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| Me taking a breather in Church Hill Downs |
I was slightly relieved to leave the half marathoners behind. The course was somewhat crowded and it reached just the perfect level of participants at the split. Miles 9 to 11 or 12ish are a primarily gentle decline out-and-back to Iroquois Park. On my run to the park, I was able to cheer on the Maniacs and 50 Staters already heading back out of the park, so that helped the time go by. It was also around Mile 10 that I heard "Macarena." Heeeeeey Macarena. Yep - that stayed with me a while.
Iroquois Park is a hillacious beast of 4 miles. Since I like hills, it was a nice break from the flat and gentle downhill incline, but it is definitely an up and down four miles. I enjoyed the serenity of the park. There weren't many spectators, but you could hear all the birds chirping and the woodsiness of the park was very pretty. The aid stations in the park handed out mini bottles of water that we could carry along with us, which was nice. Two pegasuses (pegasii? what is the plural of a pegasus anyway? if there are more than two is it a herd?) were dancing at the Mile 15 aid station. No - I was NOT hallucinating.
The park seemed to go on for a while, but I was still feeling strong when I popped back out onto the out-and-back portion of the course. This became a gentle incline from Mile 16 to Mile 20. Around Mile 18 we merged back with the half marathon course, where half marathoners were still walking the course. At Mile 18, I was started to need a little musical stimulation so I finally started my iPod. Around Mile 19, I stopped to take some photos of the University of Louisville.
And then came Mile 20 or 21. The armpit of the race. It seems like every marathon must test the strength of the marathoner and expose them to a not incredibly scenic, not very shady, boring section of town. That summarizes Miles 21 to 25. Except for the big hill at Mile 23 .
By the time I reached Mile 20, I was really surprised that I was still feeling great. I wasn't tired. My feet didn't hurt. My quads were only a little sore. I had been carrying a 4:53 Races 2 Remember Smart Pace Band in my pocket, and I had generally memorized the 13.1 and 20 splits. However, the last 10 marathons I have run, I have been pretty consistent with hitting the 13.1 and 20 mile splits that I would need to run between 4:45 and 4;50. I either don't care, or I've gotten so tired (usually due to site seeing the previous day) that I just try to finish and don't care about my pace.
At Mile 21, I could have easily finished the race near 4:45 but I didn't start mentally negotiating pace with myself until Mile 22. By Mile 23, I just decided to see what I was made of and went from running 11:00+ minute miles to 10:18, 9:49, and 10:40 minute mile. I passed several 50 Staters or Maniacs but I was just so down to business that I didn't even muster up a grunt to say "Hello." (Sorry guys.) Around Mile 25.5 was a straight away to Mile 26, and 26.1 with one right turn to reach the finish. I just started ticking off runners that had succumbed to the "death march", ran down the yellow line in the center of the road, and stared straight ahead. (And tried not to laugh when Dancing on the Ceiling came on my iPod.) I finished in 4:49:25, a 5.5 minute PR over my 2011 Oz Marathon time!!! Heeeey Macarena! (It's STILL stuck in my head.)
This is the first marathon where the only walk breaks I took were through the aid stations (or to have my photo taken at Church Hill Downs).
The finish line area left room for improvement. Instead of bottles of water, the race only had teeny tiny cups of water. Hungry? Too bad. You could have a banana or a bagel. I grabbed about 5 cups of water, a banana, and then walked the 0.5 mile back to my hotel.
One of the highlights of my race experience occurred on my walk back to the hotel. I heard a gal behind me say "Hey, 50 Stater. Hey you! Thanks!" I turned around and realized she was talking to me. This young woman had run her first marathon. She told me how she was really struggling the last four miles and saw how strong I looked and just wouldn't let me out of her sights. She said she knew if she stopped she would have just walked her race in. A good majority of the runners at that point of the race were doing the "death march"/"walk of shame" call it what you want. We've all been there. I just thought it was the coolest thing that she tracked me down to thank me. I congratulated her, and then I laughed. I told her that I moved faster the last three miles of that race than I ever have in any marathon - that I was just trying to PR. After 19 marathons, even if I hadn't PR'd, to know that you helped someone finish just made it all worth it.
Next up? Fargo in May. Utah Valley in June. Do I go for another PR? I guess I'll decide when I get to Mile 20 of those races. The race for me really does begin at Mile 20!
