Jan. 5, 2010 – LOUISVILLE, KY – The Kentucky Derby Festival is pleased to announce some exciting new changes to the race route of the 2010 Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon, presented by Walmart. The races, which will begin simultaneously at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 24, will now start near Iroquois Manor Shopping Center and will finish at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville, a 500,000-square-foot entertainment venue located within Waterfront Park. The Marathon course will also include a slightly longer loop in Jeffersonville, Ind., with competitors running alongside the Ohio River.
“We’re very excited about the new race course, especially the finish line location,” said Mike Berry, President and CEO of the Kentucky Derby Festival. “The start line should flow more smoothly and the finish will be much more welcoming for both runners and spectators. The overall experience for runners at all levels of competition will be greatly enhanced with the changes that we are unveiling today.”
Combined entries for both the Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon were capped at 12,000 runners for the past two years. In 2010, the number of registrants will cap at 15,000, setting the stage for the largest annual day of road racing in Kentucky history. Berry said the expanded race field is part of the overall growth of the races in recent years, which in 2009 attracted runners from all 50 states and 13 foreign countries.
“Our goal is to be one of the premier springtime races in the United States,” said Berry. “We’ve gotten tremendous feedback from both local and out-of-state runners and we want to build on that momentum. The support of sponsors such as Walmart allows us to add new components to the races that bring it to a world-class level.”
Berry said the new start location will eliminate any congestion among elite runners exiting Iroquois Park and slower runners and walkers.
“The runners won’t be ‘doubling back’ on each other leaving the park as they have in the past,” he said. “We definitely wanted to keep the start in the south end of the city because of the tremendous fan support those neighborhoods have offered for more than 35 years. The finish at Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville will feature a more comfortable and scenic reunite area for runners and their loved ones. There will be food and other concessions available starting at 8 a.m., followed by a concert at the site later that day.”
Registration for the 2010 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon, presented by Walmart, is now open online at www.derbyfestivalmarathon.com. Entry fees are $50 for the mini and $65 for the Marathon if registered by Jan. 31. All runners will receive Asics “technical” t-shirts at packet pickup, which will be held April 22-23 at the Kentucky International Convention Center. In addition, runners will receive a limited edition race poster, complimentary admission to the Derby Festival’s entertainment venue, Kroger’s Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, and free admission for two to Churchill Downs on April 24 or 25.
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4 comments:
How about putting some nice mile markers at mile 2, 3, and 4 in Iroquois Park? Maybe some bright MM with the mile number that could be put into the ground beside the road and then same thing down the parkway? This would sure help those of use training.
Then are you going to have a lot more portapots with the increase in runners?
How about having a type of corral start so that there is some spacing in the park. It was really really crowded last year and the park has a hard time handling this many runners at once. But if you space out by even one or two minutes, then it may not be as crowded.
Thank you. John
What else would be great is if you would post or otherwise announce on the day of the race what the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature is. Or at least the temperature, humidity, and cloud conditions for the race.
Looking forward to the new big hill at cherokee....NOT!!! That's cool though, still a great marathon. I have run it every year since it started in 2002, and will keep running it as long as my health allows it. Just curious, anyone else out there ran them all? Also wondering if the committee will be giving runners any kind of small token next year for those who will have run the first 10?
Good update, thanks for sharing the route changes this 2010. This is very helpful post.
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