Louisville Full/Half/10K- 11.12.17

     The Inaugural Louisville Marathon/Half/10K took place on November 12, 2017 at the Parklands of Floyds Fork.  This is a park area about 20 minutes east of Louisville. Jill and I participated in the Half Marathon portion and here are our thoughts!
     Packet pick up was the day before at Fleet Feet Louisville.  This was NOT an ideal location for a race with over 1,000 people. The sign on the building was very small so we missed it first time around.  Second time around no parking since the lot was extremely small. We ended up parking a few blocks away which was fine with us and we don't mind the extra walking.  Once inside we were directed to the back where pick up was. We received our bib and went to another place in store for the jacket.  There was no "swag" bag for this race.
     There were plenty of hotels within a 15-20 minute drive of the race. We stayed in Hurstbourne, KY.  Unfortunately our iPhone map let us down on the way to the race. It instructed us to take I-64 to the event location. Once we "arrived" there was no exit off the Interstate! Needless to say with an extra 20 minutes added on to our travel time we made it!
     The parking situation was another area that needs to be addressed for this race in the future. We received an email early Friday that the onsite parking would be closed due to wet grounds.  We were told to park at the Papa Johns Headquarters which was 15 minutes away by shuttle. Thankfully, I checked my email before we left and onsite parking had been opened back up.  Once we arrived the field where people were to park was a chaotic mess. The event did not have anyone on parking duty to show the cars where to go.  Because of that, a solid row of cars had formed which closed off at least 200 parking spots!  We were lucky we arrived when we did to get a spot.
      The walk to the start/finish wasn't bad at all. The headaches from packet pickup and parking quickly went away when the race started promptly at 8 am.   All 3 races were an out and back that went through 3 different parks in the Parklands area. A good majority took place on the park Greenway which was wide enough to not have any issues.  The course itself was very quiet and scenic which led to an enjoyable race. Several bridges went over meandering streams and creeks. If the race would have taken place a few weeks sooner it would have been a beautiful course.  The course was extremely well marked and there were 5 water stops for the Half. Since it was a cool morning at 45 degrees that was fine with us.  Definitely the most bizarre scene on the course was a participant dribbling a basketball and making perfect chest passes to fellow runners.  I was not on the receiving end of one of those passes, I did not want to break my focus :)  
     Once we went across the finish we were handed water and a finisher medal. I then headed to the beer wagon to try Goodwood Brewing Company's Oktoberfest beer. It definitely quenched my thirst. Next stop was the tent that had Kern's Derby Pie. It was the first time we had had this type of pie and it was very good. They also had grapes and granola bars for the finishers. Results were posted in a timely manner as well. That was it for the post race activities.
      Overall the course itself made the 2 hour drive to Louisville very worthwhile. I think once they hear comments from fellow runners they will make the necessary adjustments that will make the entire experience great.  With the distance just 120 miles from Evansville we recommend heading over in 2018!