Kentucky Derby Marathon

On a day when temps were supposed to reach the 80s by the end of the race, in a split-second decision at the starting line, I changed my goal for the Kentucky Derby Marathon from a 3:15 to a 3:26 and decided to take it easy and see what happens.

For every race I run, I usually take pride in counting the number of runners I pick-off during the last 13.1 miles of a race. My goal is to have a positive passed gain (Pass but don’t be passed). This race was no different, in fact it was the first race in a very long time that no one passed me. As we hit the hills at mile 16, (I love up-hills) I started my move and began to pick-off runners left and right (literally because no one was running the tangents). In the end, I must have easily passed 50 people without the threat of anyone passing me.

As we hit the bridge I was hamming it up with the crowd and was all smiles (as I had been for the last 10 miles or so). As we crossed over into Indiana and back over the bridge, I was feeling strong (even into a strong southerly win) with no signs of cramps. And wouldn’t you know it, some cramping as I came off the bridge but not enough to make me walk more than few feet at a time. While this did slow my pace a bit, I was still all smiles, passed my last runner at mile 25 and coasted in for a 3:27:02.

Run smarter, not faster.