Kentucky Derby mini marathon

This past Saturday I ran the mini marathon in Louisville again. As last year I had good time again this year. I got up at 4:30 ate breakfast (Banana, bagel & cereal) and then got dressed. It was 61 degrees so I wore a short sleeve tech shirts & shorts. My son in law Andy, took me to downtown Louisville to catch the shuttle to the start line. It was lightly raining at the time.

I got to the start area about 6:15 and checked out where my corral was. And I put on the garbage bag I took with me because it was raining a little harder. I walked around a bit and then went to the porta potty line. By the time I got through the line, the race had started. It was no big deal because there were 15,000 people at the start line. I took off the garbage bag and jumped in with the mass of people making their way forward and crossed the start line about 15 minutes after the gun had gone off.

I started the race by listening to my ipod, but by about 2 miles into the race it was raining pretty hard so I put it in a plastic bag and stuck it in my pocket. So it was just me talking to myself the rest of the way. Miles 2 thru 5 were in a city park and it was pretty hilly. No big deal I have been running hills in training. It had pretty much stopped raining by the time we exited the park.

The next few miles were on a nice flat roadway. We were making our way to Churchill Downs. Entered it at about mile 8. It was just as cool this year as last, getting to watch the horses run on the fabled track as we were running on the infield. Had to run through 2 different tunnels to get in and out of it. Once out of Churchill we made a left turn and headed for downtown Louisville.

At mile 12 the mini (1/2) runners turned left & the full marathoners turned right. I had been watching my pace on my Garmin for the entire race and I was pretty pleased with the way I was moving. The crowds of people on the sidewalks were getting bigger as we got closer to downtown. I passed several live bands and lost of people holding signs and cheering for their runner.

Once we got to downtown we made several turns and I could see the finish line. The last 2 miles I gave it pretty much all I had. I did mile 12 in 9:20 & mile 13 in 8:35. I finished in 2 hours, 14 minutes & 28 seconds by my Garmin. Later when I check the Derby website, it showed my chip time as exactly 3 minutes slower than my Garmin. I started my Garmin as soon as I stepped on the first timing mat, so I don't what caused the 3 minute difference. I'm going with my Garmin time, as it is a new PR for me. Hey, I can do that right?

I had a great cheering section near the finish line. I looked to my right and there were Pam & Abby jumping up and down cheering for me, how cool is that!!! Andy was on my left side, I did not see him until after I crossed the finish line. He had my chocolate milk for me. I have found that drinking the chocolate milk after long runs has really shortened the recovery times.

Pam & Abby had to make there way to Waterfront Park where the after race festivities were being held. Once we all joined some pictures were taken and the we hiked back to the car and home.

Will I do this race a third time, absolutely. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Hey, maybe next year sign up for the full marathon. Full marathon, I have my first one this coming Saturday. I am really pumped and ready to do it. Talk to ya later!!

Thanks for reading.

Til next time run strong & enjoy the moment.

Final Thoughts on the Derby Festival mini marathon

My experience running the derby festival mini marathon was a great one. From the time I was picked up by the shuttle bus until I crossed the finish line I enjoyed every moment. There were plenty of water stops and the on course entertainment was good. There were spectators throughout the course cheering runners on and at the finish line it was fantastic with all the people lining the streets.

The entire event was very well organized. It is obvious they have held this event for many years. I will most definitely sign up and run this race again next year. I have to say a big Thank You to my own personal cheering section at the finish line. I really appreciated their support and encouragement. Thanks to Pam for putting up with my hobby of running. I know sometimes I have to drive her nuts talking about it. She has allowed me to commit a vast amount of time to preparing for the races I run. Thank You Dear, I love you.

Thanks for reading.

Til next time, run strong & enjoy the moment.

Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon Part 1

Wow, what a great time I had running the Derby festival mini marathon. My day started at 4:45am. I got up, put on my running clothes, ate some breakfast and waited for my son in law Andy to get up as he was giving me a ride to dowtown Louisville to catch the shuttle bus to the start line. The temperature was 71 degrees. I knew it was going to be a warm day running once the sun came up.

We left the house about 5:30 and headed for Louisville. When we got downtown there were runners everywhere walking towards the shuttle buses. Andy dropped me off and I got in line waiting to board a bus. While in line I talked with a runner from Ohio and from Missouri. The runner from Missouri was running her first 1/2 marathon. The Ohio runner, who is a marathoner was running her first Derby festival marathon. Once we got on the bus, it took about 20 minutes to get to where the race started. When we arrived there were thousands of runners everywhere. There were 12,oo0 runners registered for this event. Music was already playing and I saw four different versions of Elvis walking amongst the runners. We still had a little over and hour to kill before the race started so I fired up my IPod and listened to some music.

The race began at 7:30 for the elite runners. I was placed in corral C, so it was about 7:37 before I crossed the start line. And oh yeah, the sun was coming up and it was getting warmer. The first 2 1/2 miles of the race were really flat and we ran through city neighborhoods. There was one water stop before we entered the city park which was between miles 2 1/2 & 3. The park was hilly. Not big hills, just lots of little ones. I took my first gel pack at mile 3. My plan was to take a gel every 3 miles. When we finished running through the park, we came out on the street where the race started. I made a pit stop and took off running again down the same street I started the race on. At mile 6 I took another gel and there was a water & powerade stop. I grabbed a bottle of water and drank some powerade. The next point of interest for me was Churchill Downs, the famed home of the Kentucky Derby.

More to follow in my next post.

Thanks for reading.

Run strong & enjoy the moment.