Derby Festival Half Marathon - April 19, 2014

After four months of preparing, the big race has come and gone. I loved this year's slogan on the  Derby Festival Mini Marathon/Marathon t-shirts, "It's not a race. It's an experience." There were so many things to see and read during the 13.1miles. Even just training to run the distance is an experience and creates memories. The Kentucky Derby Half had over 15000 participants this year and my friend and I were part of this crazy early morning run this year.

We arrived to the race scene about 6:30am - an hour before race start. We found parking easily along River Road right by the people's bridge which was close to the finish line. It was a little chilly so we wore garbage bags to stay warm so we did not need to check any gear. About 7am, we threw away our garbage bags and headed to the middle of corral D. It was not too cold in the middle of the runners. Before long, we were walking towards the start line. It took about 10 minutes after the race started for us to cross the start line, but once we did we were able to start running.

Along the course, family and friends were cheering with cow bells and signs. A few places had some music - I especially liked the high school drum corps. The hydration stations were pretty easy to get through. I typically run to almost the end and then walk while I drink the water. A highlight of the race is, of course, running in Churchill Downs. There were some horses practicing on the track that was neat to see. This is another good stop if you have to use the restrooms - lots of them in the in-field. Once out of Churchill Downs, we had about 5 more miles to go.

With about a few miles left,  a golf cart on the marathon side was clearing the way for the first female marathon running coming to the end. I was excited about this, but we ended up picking our pace up out of excitement and feeling good so we did not see the marathon female winner finish. We crossed the line with our hands up high! We made it and felt great! Quinoa, my friend and training partner, did an amazing job finishing her first half marathon. She was even talking about doing another one before we had even made it to the car!

After the race, there was plenty of bananas, granola bars, bagels, Powerade, chocolate milk, and water for the racers to enjoy. A huge thank to all the volunteers, cops, behind the scenes workers and others for all their hard work for such a huge event! The weather was absolutely beautiful for our race. It makes training in all the crazy weather this winter worth it having sunny weather for the race.

If you have not ever run a race, I highly encourage you to pick one out - whether it is a 5K or a marathon. It is an experience to be with all those runners and crowd cheering for you.

So onto my next race - Backside Trail Half-marathon in Cherokee. It will be my second race being matched up for my buddy - Kaiya from I RUN 4 and second trail half. Can't wait!