Registration is NOW OPEN for the 2010 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon & miniMarathon. The race will once again be held on the LAST SATURDAY IN APRIL (April 24, 2010). The race is now looking at a new record field of 15,000 runners. Please note that registration is much ahead of 2009 pace so register now before it is too late.
NEW for 2010, ALL runners will be receiving a FREE Asics Technical Shirt.
If you are running a Fall race, please see the list below and see where the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon will have an expo booth.
September 26th: Akron Marathon
October 11th: Chicago Marathon
October 18th: Columbus Marathon
October 25th: Marine Corp Marathon
November 21st: Philadelphia Marathon
January 10th: Disney Marathon and 1/2 Marathon Weekend
Please feel free to e-mail me at miniMarathon@kdf.org for any questions or comments you may have. We look forward to seeing you in 2010.
Chad Pickering
Race Director
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Welcome First Timers
“The trick is to not mind that it hurts”
T.E. Lawrence (as played by Peter O’Toole) – “Lawrence of Arabia” - 1962
I want to talk to the first timers. You veteran marathoners and half marathoners can stick around too, but talk among yourselves, please.
With less than six weeks to go until the big day, you have no doubt started to get into some of your longer training runs. If it is the first time you have gone 10 or 20 miles respectively, you have probably started to notice it hurts. In fact, it probably hurts quite a bit. You are possibly wondering what you got yourself into. You may be thinking “If I can just get through this, by race day my body will be able to deal with it and it won’t hurt so much.” I know what you are thinking because I have been there myself.
In the Summer of 1998, I was living in Lexington. My running partner and I decided to run our first marathon - the LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon. To execute our long runs, usually what we did was park one vehicle at a bank in Versailles, Kentucky and then drop water bottles every two and a half miles up a ten mile stretch of U.S. 60 to Frankfort, Kentucky. If you happen to know that stretch of road, you know it is not flat and there is no shade. Once we reached Frankfort, we would start our run heading back to the first car, changing out bottles etc., then run back down 60 to finish in Frankfort. Since the Chicago Marathon is in early October, we were doing these runs in August and early September which are (for those of you not from here) pretty damn hot and humid.
The first stretch – Frankfort to Versailles – was not so bad. It was ten easy yet hot and rolling miles past some lovely thoroughbred farms. I say it is “rolling”, but that is really deceptive. That road goes up hill for about a mile or so, then down hill for about a mile, then up for a mile, and so forth. The return leg, however, was never quite so pleasant. I recall one particularly hot day making the return. As I was passing the farm then owned by the late Allen Paulson (Cigar, Arazi, Azeri), I was watching a duck pond near the highway. The pond has a small island in the middle and there is a duck house on the island built to match the stud barns lining the landscape. I was so hot, so sore, and so wiped out, I began to fantasize about being a duck and diving into that pond. It is the first and only time in my life I envied a duck.
After completing the course the first time, I was seriously concerned I had bitten off more than I could chew. Every part of my body ached. All I wanted to do was sit there in the shade of tree where we parked and drink water. I had already done the mini a couple of times and had hurt late in those. But, that was nothing compared to what I was feeling after my first 20. But, we pressed on. Subsequent 20 milers went better. But they too hurt . . . a lot. I took solace in the fact that my running partner was dying as much as I was. I also thought that with cooler weather in October and this tough conditioning behind me, I would be okay come race day.
You too may be hoping that by race day, the conditioning will pay off and you can get through the race without at some point just wanting to die. Well, forget it. The ugly truth of the matter is that virtually no one can train for and run a marathon without suffering. That is just the way it is. Your body was not built to handle that kind of stress.
So, if pain is inevitable, why do it? My answer is that pain is certainly inevitable; but so is success if, like T.E. Lawrence, “you don’t mind that it hurts”. Endurance athletes have a common bond – whether it is marathoners, Ironman, ultra-marathons or just about anything else. When you complete your first full or half marathon, what you and I and so many before you will have in common is not that we have run races of equal distances (ever heard of 5k runners sitting around swapping war stories?). What we will have in common is that we both know the other is capable and willing to suffer like a dog through weeks of training and the 26.2 miles (or 13.1) of race day just to reach the finish line one time. Call it mutual respect. To an outsider, that sounds silly. To you, it may even sound pointless. If it hurts now, and it will hurt on race day, why bother? I know the answer, but there are not words to explain it. But, when you hit the finish line April 25th, trust me, you’ll get it. Until then, suffer . . . and don’t mind that it hurts.
Wendell L. Jones
Race Chair
T.E. Lawrence (as played by Peter O’Toole) – “Lawrence of Arabia” - 1962
I want to talk to the first timers. You veteran marathoners and half marathoners can stick around too, but talk among yourselves, please.
With less than six weeks to go until the big day, you have no doubt started to get into some of your longer training runs. If it is the first time you have gone 10 or 20 miles respectively, you have probably started to notice it hurts. In fact, it probably hurts quite a bit. You are possibly wondering what you got yourself into. You may be thinking “If I can just get through this, by race day my body will be able to deal with it and it won’t hurt so much.” I know what you are thinking because I have been there myself.
In the Summer of 1998, I was living in Lexington. My running partner and I decided to run our first marathon - the LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon. To execute our long runs, usually what we did was park one vehicle at a bank in Versailles, Kentucky and then drop water bottles every two and a half miles up a ten mile stretch of U.S. 60 to Frankfort, Kentucky. If you happen to know that stretch of road, you know it is not flat and there is no shade. Once we reached Frankfort, we would start our run heading back to the first car, changing out bottles etc., then run back down 60 to finish in Frankfort. Since the Chicago Marathon is in early October, we were doing these runs in August and early September which are (for those of you not from here) pretty damn hot and humid.
The first stretch – Frankfort to Versailles – was not so bad. It was ten easy yet hot and rolling miles past some lovely thoroughbred farms. I say it is “rolling”, but that is really deceptive. That road goes up hill for about a mile or so, then down hill for about a mile, then up for a mile, and so forth. The return leg, however, was never quite so pleasant. I recall one particularly hot day making the return. As I was passing the farm then owned by the late Allen Paulson (Cigar, Arazi, Azeri), I was watching a duck pond near the highway. The pond has a small island in the middle and there is a duck house on the island built to match the stud barns lining the landscape. I was so hot, so sore, and so wiped out, I began to fantasize about being a duck and diving into that pond. It is the first and only time in my life I envied a duck.
After completing the course the first time, I was seriously concerned I had bitten off more than I could chew. Every part of my body ached. All I wanted to do was sit there in the shade of tree where we parked and drink water. I had already done the mini a couple of times and had hurt late in those. But, that was nothing compared to what I was feeling after my first 20. But, we pressed on. Subsequent 20 milers went better. But they too hurt . . . a lot. I took solace in the fact that my running partner was dying as much as I was. I also thought that with cooler weather in October and this tough conditioning behind me, I would be okay come race day.
You too may be hoping that by race day, the conditioning will pay off and you can get through the race without at some point just wanting to die. Well, forget it. The ugly truth of the matter is that virtually no one can train for and run a marathon without suffering. That is just the way it is. Your body was not built to handle that kind of stress.
So, if pain is inevitable, why do it? My answer is that pain is certainly inevitable; but so is success if, like T.E. Lawrence, “you don’t mind that it hurts”. Endurance athletes have a common bond – whether it is marathoners, Ironman, ultra-marathons or just about anything else. When you complete your first full or half marathon, what you and I and so many before you will have in common is not that we have run races of equal distances (ever heard of 5k runners sitting around swapping war stories?). What we will have in common is that we both know the other is capable and willing to suffer like a dog through weeks of training and the 26.2 miles (or 13.1) of race day just to reach the finish line one time. Call it mutual respect. To an outsider, that sounds silly. To you, it may even sound pointless. If it hurts now, and it will hurt on race day, why bother? I know the answer, but there are not words to explain it. But, when you hit the finish line April 25th, trust me, you’ll get it. Until then, suffer . . . and don’t mind that it hurts.
Wendell L. Jones
Race Chair
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Pace Makes The Race
In horse racing there is an old saying that “pace makes the race”. Come to think of it, there are lots of sayings in horse racing. But, that is perhaps a topic for a different time.
In recent years, it has become common place for pacers to appear in marathons to assist less experienced runners at the distance. As runners we all want to run fast (“fast” being a relative term, of course). But in the marathon discipline, fast early means crawling late. That is where the more experienced runners that pacers are become valuable – they help runners dole out their effort over a course longer than they have ever run. If all goes well, pacer and followers alike hit the finish line more or less on time and more or less still alive and kicking.
I have never used a pacer. Well, I have never used one in the traditional sense. Last November in New York I felt like my training was adequate to get me around the five boroughs in about 3:45. When problems set in at mile eight and then mounted thereafter, I knew I was in some trouble. Hitting the half in 1:47 was little consolation as the problems continued to mount. What hitting the half in that time really did was tell me I had messed up. But, where the pacer came in was later on about mile 18 or 19 when the 3:45 pacer went by (with group in tow) I was able to use that information to confirm what I had expected earlier in the race. It was now confirmed I was cooked.
I said all that to say this: pacers, to my knowledge, have never been used in a half marathon. Nevertheless, I have received a few e-mails from runners planning to do the half (the “mini” as we like to call it) who wanted to know about pacers for that race. My advice to them so far has been to double your goal time then follow the marathon pacer for that time. In other words, if your goal is to complete the mini in 1:45, follow the 3:30 marathon pacer. That advice did not sit too well with at least one e-mailer by the name of “John”. He was pleasant about it though. In fact, he suggested I ask you. So I am. Do we need pacers in the miniMarathon?
Now, before you answer, be advised KDF does not control the pacers in our race. It is a group who came to us offering their services and we were thrilled (and still are) to have them. So, I cannot guarantee pacers for 2009 or, for that matter, 2010. So, the real question I am asking you the runners is: Should I ask for them? John certainly thinks so. Is he way off here?
By the way, (and off subject here), did you see this article? http://www.nola.com/news/?/base/news-1/1233296650238120.xml&coll=1
Check out page 8. They got the name wrong, but for those of you from here you can take some pride; those of you not from here have something to look forward to. Hopefully, our other 12 and 25 miles will be just about as “ultimate”.
Okay, back on subject: send me your comments. What do you think about pacers for the miniMarathon? You can comment below or you can e-mail me at racechair@kdf.org.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled goofing off at work.
Wendell Jones
Race Chair
In recent years, it has become common place for pacers to appear in marathons to assist less experienced runners at the distance. As runners we all want to run fast (“fast” being a relative term, of course). But in the marathon discipline, fast early means crawling late. That is where the more experienced runners that pacers are become valuable – they help runners dole out their effort over a course longer than they have ever run. If all goes well, pacer and followers alike hit the finish line more or less on time and more or less still alive and kicking.
I have never used a pacer. Well, I have never used one in the traditional sense. Last November in New York I felt like my training was adequate to get me around the five boroughs in about 3:45. When problems set in at mile eight and then mounted thereafter, I knew I was in some trouble. Hitting the half in 1:47 was little consolation as the problems continued to mount. What hitting the half in that time really did was tell me I had messed up. But, where the pacer came in was later on about mile 18 or 19 when the 3:45 pacer went by (with group in tow) I was able to use that information to confirm what I had expected earlier in the race. It was now confirmed I was cooked.
I said all that to say this: pacers, to my knowledge, have never been used in a half marathon. Nevertheless, I have received a few e-mails from runners planning to do the half (the “mini” as we like to call it) who wanted to know about pacers for that race. My advice to them so far has been to double your goal time then follow the marathon pacer for that time. In other words, if your goal is to complete the mini in 1:45, follow the 3:30 marathon pacer. That advice did not sit too well with at least one e-mailer by the name of “John”. He was pleasant about it though. In fact, he suggested I ask you. So I am. Do we need pacers in the miniMarathon?
Now, before you answer, be advised KDF does not control the pacers in our race. It is a group who came to us offering their services and we were thrilled (and still are) to have them. So, I cannot guarantee pacers for 2009 or, for that matter, 2010. So, the real question I am asking you the runners is: Should I ask for them? John certainly thinks so. Is he way off here?
By the way, (and off subject here), did you see this article? http://www.nola.com/news/?/base/news-1/1233296650238120.xml&coll=1
Check out page 8. They got the name wrong, but for those of you from here you can take some pride; those of you not from here have something to look forward to. Hopefully, our other 12 and 25 miles will be just about as “ultimate”.
Okay, back on subject: send me your comments. What do you think about pacers for the miniMarathon? You can comment below or you can e-mail me at racechair@kdf.org.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled goofing off at work.
Wendell Jones
Race Chair
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