Race morning, I woke up before my alarm and felt super tired. I did my best to get some coffee in me to wake up, but I just felt exhausted. I figured I’d just try my best to get through the race and finish somewhat close to the 2 hour mark. I could always nap later. I watched the local news coverage of the race from my hotel room. I was excited to experience running through Churchill Downs. I dressed warmly for the cool morning temperatures.
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| TV coverage from race at finish line. |
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| TV coverage of race from Churchill Downs. |
The race starting line area was festive. They kicked things off with a man playing “My Old Kentucky Home” on the trumpet (he was dressed like a horse jockey) and then followed up with the National Anthem sung by a local recording artist. Kathrine Switzer was on hand to give some words of encouragement before the starting gun went off promptly at 7:30 am. Although it was chilly at the start, I knew pretty quickly that I wouldn’t need my long sleeve half-zip for the whole race. Once we got moving, the body warmed up fast.
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| Gold statue near first part of race. |
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| Giant bat outside Louisville Slugger Museum. |
Our first mile brought us through some of the downtown area, including passing some of the bourbon bars, a giant gold statue of David, and a giant Louisville Slugger baseball bat outside the Louisville Slugger factory. This stretch led us in to a more industrial/residential somewhat run down neighborhood for a bit. It wasn’t bad, but just had a different feel from the downtown area, for sure. We ran a bit on Market Street and then crossed Muhammad Ali Blvd. (He was a Louisville native.) Next, we ran on 4th Street, but outside of the downtown area I had walked through the night before. Along this stretch, I decided to remove my long sleeved top, which ended up being quite a feat. I was sweaty and the material was sticking to me, so trying to remove it while I ran was like a Cirque du Soleil trick. Finally, I shed the layer and tied it around my waist.
The next section of the race was one of my favorites. It was the Central Park neighborhood, which was lined with beautiful brick homes and lots of trees. If I lived in Louisville, I’d want to live here. It was so beautiful, and the crowds were good here. They also had a dj playing, which helped keep us moving along at a good pace. I can’t remember if it was just before Central Park area or just after, but we passed by Spalding University, which from what I can gather is a religious affiliated college. Outside a church on campus, a brother was cheering us on in his brown robe telling us “he had confidence in each and every one of us.” That was some nice encouragement! I also thought it was neat that one of their main buildings had a red and white Pee Wee Herman style bicycle up above its door. Cute!
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| Access road approaching Churchill Downs. |
Next we followed a pretty straight away path through the University of Kentucky (or at least what I could see of it from the main road) and out to Churchill Downs. The neighborhood just before the horse track was sort of run down, but I could smell the horses about a half mile before getting to the venue. Once we turned in to the Churchill Downs entrance, it was huge and such a thrill to see it in person. I snapped a couple of photos as we turned toward the building, and managed to film my run through the underground tunnel in to the inner area of Churchill Downs. We didn’t end up running on the track (which is what I thought we were going to do), but we ran all through the roads inside the property. It was pretty cool to see the famous spires and there were some cute billboards along the way. Coming out of the tunnel was tough, but it was worth it to have been on this famous ground.
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| Entrance gates to Churchill Downs. |
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| Billboard inside stadium: This would be easier on a horse! |
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| Billboard inside stadium: Run now, Juleps later. |
Once we exited the tunnel, we were past the 8 mile mark and heading straight back toward the downtown area. The first landmark we passed on this part of the race route was the University of Louisville campus. It was beautiful as we ran along, and I spied the UL Cardinals baseball stadium. Impressive! Pretty much, from this point on, we were on a straight path along Third Avenue. I knew I didn’t have that much more to go, but I also felt myself slowing down a bit. The 1:55 group passed me at Churchill Downs, but I was determined to stay ahead of the 2 hour group. As I progressed these last 4 miles or so, I kept feeling fatigue but kept trying to pull out whatever small bursts of speed I could muster.
Mile 9 must have flown by because the next mile marker sign I saw was 10. That was a happy moment! Less to go than I thought! The crowds along this last part of the run were lively in spurts, which helped to pump up my momentum along the way. Slowly, we came back in to the tall buildings of the downtown area and mile 12. Again for like the millionth time, the Morrissey lyrics, “Why is the last mile the hardest mile…” came to mind. Seriously, the last mile always seems sooooo long! How can that be? But at this point, I knew I was close…a right hand turn, a half mile, a left hand turn and the finish line was a welcome beacon. To my great surprise, I not only held off the 2 hour group, but I finished in a net time of 1:56:53! Way faster than I anticipated! Woo hoo!
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| Panoramic view of runner finish line festival. |
Once through the finish chute, we were paraded through the medal, water, food and photo areas and the trail emptied into the waterfront park where gear check and runner/family meeting stations were. It was a lively atmosphere, with an announcer talking to various participants to get their stories, some of which were really inspirational. I asked another runner to take my finish line photo near a display of what I thought were bourbon barrels (only to see post-photo that they were marked as vodka…). I grabbed the obligatory cup of beer from the beer tent—local beer Goodwood. It was ok, but I didn’t finish it. I was ready to get back to the hotel for a shower.
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| Finish line photo with metal. |
I put my half zip back on to keep me from feeling chilled from being sweaty. The 3-4 block walk back to my hotel was nice. I got to stretch out my legs and just enjoy the sunshine and city streets. I enjoyed a longer than normal shower, called home to check in with the family, and then hit the streets of Louisville.
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| Statue of George Rogers Clark. |
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| Panoramic view of waterfront area along Ohio River. |
I took a walk out near the waterfront onto an overlook that connected to the plaza of my hotel. There was a statue of George Rogers Clark (brother of William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame) who was one of the surveyors/founders of Kentucky. He scouted the Ohio River for a safe settlement. There was a fabulous view of the rivers, area bridges and city skyline from here.
One interesting thing I found about the downtown area of Louisville is all the skywalks they have. My hotel had several skywalks/connectors that went to the convention center, parking garages and other areas. It seems that this is a trend along the downtown area. From the waterfront plaza, I was able to walk on outdoor walkways over to the Muhammad Ali Center, a cultural center and museum dedicated to the life of the boxer. From there, I went street level down to the main street to walk to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. Also in this area were an arts center and science museum. Pretty cool cultural area.
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| Muhammad Ali Cultural Center. |
I took the tour of the Louisville Slugger factory, which was fun. They make all their bats from ash, maple and birch trees sourced from forest land on the border of NY and PA. Most popular with MLB players is maple. It was very interesting to see the process (harvesting, billeting, lathing, sanding, finishing, etc.). It was really cool to see the process and hear about how MLB players contract with them to get their special bats made to their liking. There were some cool exhibits in the museum relating to some famous players. And the lobby boasts a wall of Louisville lumber name plates featuring the names, signatures and years played by famous players who used their bats. An impressive display for sure. The tour concluded with distribution of a souvenir mini-Louisville Slugger souvenir bat and trip to the gift shop. It was fun.
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| Wooden hall of fame plaques in the lobby of Louisville Slugger Museum. |
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| Ted Williams statue. |
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| Babe Ruth statue. |
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| Jackie Robinson statue. |
At this point, it was nearing 2 pm and I was getting hungry and tired. I opted for a quick bite at Starbucks (saving a more substantial, celebratory meal for dinner) and then a nap at my hotel. However, before my nap, I stopped at the hotel bar for a mint julep. I figured, I might as well get an official Derby cocktail while in Kentucky! It was actually stronger than I expected, but I think it helped me fall asleep pretty quickly once back in my room! LOL!
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| Mint Julep. |
Maybe it was the lack of sleep the previous two nights, maybe it was the julep, but I conked out for a glorious solid one hour nap. Just what I needed! I would’ve liked to have visited the Muhammad Ali Center, but that will have to wait until next time. My dinner plans brought me back to Fourth Street to a restaurant I spied the night before called Bourbon Raw. It was a seafood/raw bar/southern food place with LOADS of bourbon on the menu. I’m NOT a bourbon drinker AT ALL, but I figured I’d try some kind of bourbon just to say that I experience the local libation. There are bourbon distilleries all throughout the city where you can go on tours and have tastings. I didn’t do that, so I figured a tasting was in order as part of dinner. My very helpful bartender, Tesla, guided me to a gentle tasting of Makers Mark, Four Roses and Buffalo Trace. It was fun, and surprisingly, better than I thought it would be.
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| My tasting flight. |
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| Restaurant menu. |
Dinner consisted of some appetizer plates of buffalo cauliflower (so yummy!) and short rib sliders (the perfect bit of southern cuisine without it being too heavy). I left feeling perfectly fed and satisfied without going overboard and risking a post-race stomach issue.
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| Artwork at the restaurant. |
Once back at the hotel, I prepped my suitcase for the morning and got to bed nice and early. I really needed a good night’s sleep. It had been a fun experience in Louisville, but I know I only hit the tip of the iceberg. I’d love to return to visit more of the cultural and horse racing attractions. A woman I met on my flight out said I should absolutely come back and fly in to Lexington, rent a car and visit the race track out there along with the bourbon trail. Sounds like a future plan. Great race, enjoyable place.
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| Race shirt, number and finishers medal. |
