The Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and miniMarathon arrive this weekend as the latest excuse to get me out of bed at an obscene hour on a Saturday.? Unlike the races in the Triple Crown of Running (5K, 10K, 10M) which started at 8:30 and were situated where you could park and walk … this race starts at 7:30 and you have to take a shuttle to the start line which stops running at 6:30.? A travesty of sanity I tell you!

Zero dark thirty departure aside, I am pumped up about this race as much as any other time I get to compete, but this will be a new milestone for me as I have never done an open half marathon.? I have gone the distance as part of a half Ironman last September, but never by itself so it will be a new experience to me.? My run split then was right at 2 hours, so as long as I go 9:14 minute miles or better (Im aiming for 7:30s) then I should set a pretty nice PR.? The course is similar to the 10 miler, mainly heading down 3rd Street with a 2 mile warmup before starting a loop around Iroquois Park.? It does add a unique twist however by running into Churchill Downs and taking a lap around the infield, before continuing on to the finish downtown.

You can sign up to get text message or email alerts for your friends running the Derby Festival Mini/Marathon this weekend.? Below is a link to the sign up page
http://tools.marathonguide.com/runnertracking/Derby2008/

]]>