31 - Louisville, Kentucky

This marathon was part of The Kentucky Derby Festival, a two-week long, community-wide celebration for the Kentucky Derby.  Mark came along to continue his 60th birthday celebration.  When will his birthday celebration end?!?

We arrived late on Thursday, April 26.  On Friday morning, we went over to the marathon packet pick-up, which was across the street from our hotel. The afternoon we spent exploring downtown Louisville.

We walked along Riverfront Park, stopped by the Fest-a-Ville on the Waterfront, and explored the Frazier International History Museum.  If you are interested in guns, this is the museum to visit!
For dinner we stopped at Bristol Bar & Grille, where we met a waiter who was running his first marathon the next day.

The marathon started at 7:30 AM in the downtown area, just was a quick walk from our hotel.  I was excited to run through Churchill Downs which was at about mile 8.  Once we arrived at Churchill Downs, we ran under the grandstands, through a tunnel entrance onto the infield, around the infield service road, and then out again.  There were horses warming up on the track as we ran by, which put a little pep in our step!

After Churchill Downs, we were off to a run around Iroquois Park, which was planned by Frederick Law Olmsted. This was the hilliest part of the course. As I was leaving the park at about mile 15, I saw the waiter from the night before.  He was quite chipper and still in good spirits.

The remainder of the marathon was uneventful and flat.  At mile 20 I started talking to a friendly women from Tennessee.

Friend from Tennessee is behind me in the white tank top.  We hadn't met at this point when this picture was taken. 

She had started with her boyfriend, but he cut it short and only ran the half marathon course.  She and I chatted about everything, which helped to pass the last 6.2 miles.

If you can believe it, Mark was waiting at the finish line!  I know that it helped to call him about an hour before I was planning on arriving at the finish line to give him a heads up.

After the run, we went back to the hotel and I took a nap to get ready for Opening Night for the 2012 Spring Track Events at Churchill Downs.  John Fox, a friend of ours, got us tickets.  Thank you John!

Our seats were just past the finish line.  We got there early to walk around and of course to have the
obligatory Mint Julep.  I totally understand why it is called a "sipping" drink! Actually, it tastes pretty bad — maybe it's an acquired taste?

Mark read "How to Wager" in the program and much to his dismay, I did not follow any of the advice in the program.  My betting plan was to pick the horse with the worst odds... to win.   We came out a whopping $0.60 ahead by the time we left!  No worries about me getting a gambling addiction.