Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and Half Marathon

*Finish line festival at the Kentucky Derby Festival*

State 34: Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon
April 2024

I ran the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon in April 2024 and thoroughly enjoyed my experience in Louisville. If you’re looking to check Kentucky off your list or you just want to run a race in a fun city, check this one out! There are a few other distance options, as well – marathon, marathon relay, and a 5K. Read more below, including my food + drink recs in the city!

Overview of race details

DATE: This race is typically held the last weekend in April. The half and full marathons are on Saturday.

WEATHER: It was a pretty warm day when I ran it. Obviously this will change year to year, but the end of April can be hit or miss for weather in the Midwest.

ELEVATION: The half marathon is an overall flat course. There are a few small hills, but nothing memorable. The marathon has some more significant hills in the middle of the race, though.

TIME LIMIT: Participants in the half marathon must maintain a 15:00 min/mile pace. The marathon limit is a bit faster, with a required 13:45 min/mile pace or faster.

SIZE: I’d consider this a medium-sized race, with around 10,000 runners participating the year I ran it (between the half and full marathons).

General Travel Logistics

I drove down with a few friends from Chicago. It was an easy 4-5 hour drive.
If you’re flying, it’s easiest to fly into the Louisville airport (SDF). No need to rent a car, as you can easily take an Uber/Lyft to the downtown area.
My friends stayed in a hotel in downtown Louisville, while I stayed in an AirBnB about 2 miles from downtown because I wanted to save a bit of money on accommodations. I really liked my AirBnB and it wasn’t an issue getting downtown. I took a rideshare on race morning and walked back after the race.

Race Logistics

Packet Pickup:
Getting our bib was easy and there was a decent-sized expo, as well. We took photos with a few fun props and even won some Tide detergent!

Start Line:
You were assigned a corral and it was easy to move to another one; however, the corrals weren’t marked very well and it was confusing at first to figure out which one to line up in.

Aid Stations:
I thought there were a sufficient amount of aid stations along the course, with water and Powerade. Gels are not provided on the half marathon course.

Finish Line:
The finish line festival had a good selection of food + drinks, along with several good backdrops for photos. The food was a bit scattered, though, so it wasn’t clear how to get all of the goodies. Overall a really nice post-race celebration, though!

Course Highlights

You run through Churchill Downs (where the Kentucky Derby takes place).
You run past the University of Louisville and through some of the Louisville neighborhoods.
There were more spectators than I expected for a race of this size - many giving out beer, treats, and other fun goodies.

Race Goodies

The medal was nice!
I personally didn’t love the shirt because it was a v-neck and I didn’t love the color. But it certainly wasn’t the worst shirt I’ve gotten from a race - just not my favorite!

Final Race Thoughts

I enjoyed this race a lot more than I thought I would. It’s a fun, well-organized race and I liked that it was on a Saturday. Louisville is a fun city to explore, especially if you like bourbon, so if you’re traveling from out of town, I strongly encourage you to leave on Sunday to allow time to explore and indulge after the race. My training was a bit up and down going into this, so it wasn’t a fast race for me, but given the mostly flat course for the half marathon, you could definitely have a strong race if the weather is nice!

Food + Drink Highlights

There is no shortage of good food and drinks in Louisville! These are the places I went and enjoyed.

Atrium Brewing: We went here for lunch on Friday after our drive and they have great beer, as well as delicious tacos from a local food truck.
Biscuit Belly: This is a chain, but it’s a good one, and the location in Louisville was the first one. I got the G.O.A.T sandwich and the Bonuts (biscuit donut holes with bourbon cream cheese frosting) as my post-race meal. Both were delish! There is often a line, so be prepared to wait, but you can also order ahead online.
Quill’s Coffee: Really good coffee - I got the cold brew. There are a few locations, but I went to the one on the same block as Biscuit Belly.
Peerless Distilling Co: We did a walk-in short tasting, which is definitely worth it. We tasted some good bourbon and got a history lesson! I ended up buying a small bottle to take home, and there are some other cute gifts in the store that were tempting to buy, as well.
Bardstown Bourbon Co: We sat at the bar and had a few drinks. The bourbon was also really good here, and all of us bought a bottle to take home.
Phalcha Coffee: This spot is a few miles from the downtown area, but it was a short walk from my AirBnB, so I went on Sunday morning before we drove back to Chicago. It’s a cute neighborhood coffee shop with unique lattes and an iced coffee flight.
Caio Ristorante: This is where we ate dinner on Friday evening. It was a solid spot to get Italian food and carb load ahead of time. I recommend making a reservation ahead of time, as it was quite busy.

Exploring Louisville

We didn’t do a ton of exploring outside of wandering around downtown post-race and going to a few bars + distilleries, but there are plenty of options, depending on what you’re into. If there are any distilleries you really want to visit and tour, make sure you get tickets ahead of time. There were several we tried to get walk-in tours and they were sold out for the day. There are plenty of options, so it wasn’t a huge deal, but if you have a specific one in mind, plan ahead.

Churchill Downs Opening Day is the same day as the race, if you really want to get into the spirit of the Kentucky Derby Festival. Learn more and buy tickets ahead of time here.

Other popular attractions include the Louisville Slugger Museum and the Kentucky Derby Museum.

Running the States: Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon