Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Louisville, Kentucky
United States
Kentucky Derby Festival
55F / 13C
Precipitation
 		Total Time = 7h 30m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

I stayed at the race hotel. I got up 2 1/2 hours before the race, ate a banana and coffee before I left. I ate a power bar and drank half a liter an hour before the race. I hit a gel right before the race.
Event warmup:

I just walked around. I used the first mile as a warm-up.
Run
  • 1h 43m 36s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 07m 55s  min/mile
Comments:

I was conservative early. I didn't train to make this a competitve race. But I couldn't help but feel competitive. My buddies and I picked it up when we the crowd started to separate in the hills at mile 3.

I started feeling rough around mile 9. The crowd was really breaking up and slowing down. The rain picked up a little and it was getting cold. But I popped a tylenol and got around bands and crowds. That fired me up and I picked it up. I started to open it back up at mile 11 and went 90% for mile 13.
What would you do differently?:

Train more.
Post race
Warm down:

Walking and stretching. I walked around downtown Louisville and then back to my room.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of speed work and long runs. Read: I didn't train enough. I ran a couple of middle distance runs early in the season. My long runs were two 10 milers. I wish I would have run a couple of more 8 milers and would have done speed work.

I also deliberately went slow at the beginning. I think I could have trimmed a minute or two. But I didn't train well enough to go faster. I would rather go slow early and conserve energy than to burn out. A couple friends started out at a 7 minute mile and then wore themselves out.

Event comments:

A superb race. I ran the full marathon last year. The Derby Festival is putting a lot of effort into the race and takes the constructive criticism seriously. They made a nice route change to go through Churchill Downs. The marathon route changed to run across the Ohio River... a much better route than last year.

Overall, this is a well planned and staffed event. There was a lot of food and great race volunteers. The community supports this event and it shows. A+.




Last updated: 2006-04-29 12:00 AM
Running
01:43:36 | 13.1 miles | 07m 55s  min/mile
Age Group: 90/
Overall: 617/
Performance: Good
1: 8:24 2: 8:05 3: 7:19 4: 8:01 5: 7:41 6: 7:43 7: 7:46 8: 7:58 9/10: 8:21 (this was kind of rough. It got cold and wet and the crowd was slowing down. I took an extended rest break at a water point. 11: 7:33 12: 7:47 13: 6:57
Course: It was a pretty big race. The participants did a lot better sticking to their pace markers. It took two minutes to get from the 8 minute stick to the start. I weaved the whole race. It was real bad for the first 3 miles. We then hit the hills. The hills really broke everyone up. We were in the hills until mile 5 and then broke back out onto a four lane road for a fairly direct run. At mile 8 we turned into Churchill Downs (where they run the Kentucky Derby). We ran through a tunnel and into the infield. The horses were working out on the left and the Twin Spires were on the right. Meanwhile the speakers were playing race replays. The finish was easy to pick out because you run to the Louisville skyline.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5