Kentucky: Derby Marathon
A few months after
tackling the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World, Chad and I headed down to
Louisville, Kentucky for the Derby marathon. Since it was just a short 4 hour
drive from Columbus, we decided to make it a guys weekend. With the race being
on Saturday, we took off work on Friday to drive down and then planned on
leaving Sunday so we didn't have to drive home right after the race. What was
supposed to be just a 4 hour drive, turned into almost 6 with the last couple
hours being stuck in traffic when we were only 15 miles from hotel! This was
just the beginning of the fun the next 18 hours would have in store for us.
Race: Kentucky Derby
Marathon
Location:
Louisville, KY
Date: 4/25/2015
Finishing Time:
4:29:22
If you remember from
the Ohio and Pennsylvania marathons, I have this wonderful luck of getting wet
weather come race day. A few days before the race we had been checking out the
forecast and the only day that called for rain, was during the race, 100% chance of rain that
is. As we were sitting in traffic, Chad started reading an email that was sent out from the director. They had been following the weather and were so
worried that they had even brought up the "what if the race is
cancelled" kind of talk. When we finally arrived at the hotel we had
turned on the news and the local weather and they talked about large hail,
damaging winds, and possible tornados. What were we getting ourselves into?
We headed over to
the expo for packet pick up, as well as, the pre-race pasta
dinner. There was some pretty good pasta, side dishes, and of course derby pie!
We also received a single beer ticket, because you know, beer is carbs.
Apparently we looked like big beer drinkers as we both had people come up
to us and just offer their beer tickets since they were going to use them and
of course we couldn’t let them go to waste. After dinner we headed back to
hotel to try and get some rest before the possible apocalypse happened the next
day.
The morning of the
race we got up, ate our pre-race items, got dressed, and make the short drive
to downtown Louisville. We were able to find a parking lot that was only a few
blocks from the start and about a mile from the finish line. As of this point the
weather was shaping up to be a better than the "world ending"
situation that we had heard about the previous day. We had decided that we were
going to run with the 4:15 pace group and see how long we could hold that. My
goal for this race was sub 4:30, to try and make up for my poor run in Vegas
the year before. The first few miles wrapped around the west side of downtown
Louisville. Not to long after we started we started to feel the sprinkle of
rain. It wasn’t a lot but it was telling a tale of what was to come.
We went through
University of Louisville and then make it to Churchill Downs at mile 8. This is
where I said the one thing I knew I would regret later on. You can actually see
me say in my GoPro video (link at bottom), but Chad and I were discussing our pace
and how we felt the pacer was pushing us pretty good up until this point
definitely working us faster than a 4:15 pace. Chad said that it could have
been because the large incline around mile 12 that they were having us
bank some time for that moment. That is when I said "but the hill isn't
that bad." Famous last words.
This was the coolest
part of the run, taking a lap on the infield of track. The place is absolutely
massive compared to how it looks when watching it on TV. The actual Kentucky
Derby was taking place the next weekend and we were lucky enough to see some jockeys
doing some practicing with their horses doing laps. After we left Churchill Downs the half marathoners split off and things got really quiet. We headed
straight down a single road heading to Iroqouis Park. This road was going to
take us to the park and then double back to head back downtown to finish.
One crazy thing we saw at this point was a guy that we just now referred
to as the "cartwheel guy." There was this Eastern European guy that
would point out and cheer for those already on their way back and then do a
cartwheel mid stride. He did this at least 5 times that we saw and I was able
to capture one of them on the GoPro.
Around mile 11, as
we started to approach the park, it started raining again and it seemed that
with every step it started to come down just a little bit harder. In addition
to the rain, we started to make the incline for the "hill" that I
said wasn’t going to be that hard on us. This "hill" never seemed to
end. We had a long incline entering the park and then while we
circled it seemed that we kept going. We finally made it to a short downhill to a parking
lot with an aid station and I thought that we had finally made it out and were
going to be heading back. Until of course, the route turned right back into the
park and up another decent incline. Just after mile 15, we finally made it out
of the park and back on the main road.
As much as the park
was horrible with pouring rain and steep inclines, the next stretch was by far
the hardest part mentally. We ran for about 6 miles on the same road, with no
turns, and no real scenery other than houses. Because of the wet weather there
weren't many spectators to keep our mind from listening to the pains and aches in our body. Through all of this Chad and I
were keeping a pretty good pace and staying close to that 4:15 mark we started
with. That was until my stomach again wanted to get the best of me.
Around mile 22, I
started getting some side pains and told Chad to go ahead as I was going to try
and walk it out and then catch back up with him. Looking back that was probably
the worst thing I could have done in that situation. The next few miles, I would
only make it about 1/2 mile before I started to feel the pain in my side. I
kept trying to push as I knew I was getting close to missing my race goal and I
didn't come this far to come up short. With about a mile left I knew it was
going to be close, so I gave all that I had in me to just push through the pain
and to not stop until I crossed the finish. When you watch the race video, you
will see the discomfort in my face on that last push. I gave my final "sprint" when
I saw the finish line in sight, running hard all the way through it. I stopped
my watch and took a glance, 4:29:22.
Talk about cutting
it close with a goal. I was able to get a PR despite the lovely wet weather and
stomach issues in the last 5k of the race. I grabbed my chocolate milk and my
snacks and met up with Chad at the "PR gong." It felt good to hit it
knowing that I had emptied my tank leaving nothing left on the course. We made
the mile walk (which seemed like 5 miles since we were soaked and exhausted) back to the
car so we could get cleaned up and enjoy the rest of the day. We spent the
afternoon/evening visiting a few local breweries and brewpubs, taking some
batting cage swings at the Louisville Slugger museum, and then meeting some of
Chad's friends for a few drinks before taking a Lyft ride back to sleep.
All in all, I had a
great time at this race. There wasn’t much to see on the course other than
University of Louisville and Churchill Downs, but it did have the feel of a fun
run back home with our running group. The course had a local feel and there was
lots of support at the aid stations to keep you going to the next. Spent the
weekend with Chad, ran a marathon PR, and got to try some great local beer,
hard to argue that it wasn’t a successful trip!
My next race was the
hardest mentally that I had ever had to push through but it was also the most
beautiful scenery that I have had the pleasure of seeing while running. All
aboard, we are heading to Hawaii!