Registration is near 75% capacity
March 14, 2014. Louisville, KY. – The Kentucky Derby Festival is re-routing a small portion of the 2014 Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon presented by Walmart and HumanaVitality due to the construction on the Ohio River Bridges project. The races are set for Saturday, April 19th. While the miniMarathon course will remain unchanged, the last four miles of the Marathon course will be impacted.
To move runners out of the construction zones, the last four miles of the Marathon will be rerouted down Broadway instead of Main Street. This affects the north side of Broadway from Baxter to Third Street. The Festival is working with Louisville Metro Police to ensure the route is safe for the runners and still accessible to traffic. As they do along the entire race route, LMPD will assist with vehicle cross traffic at all affected intersections along Broadway, to ensure residents and business can still reach their destination when breaks in the race permit.
“All downtown events are being rerouted to avoid the construction and the Kentucky Derby Festival is no exception,” said Matt Gibson, Vice President of Events for the Kentucky Derby Festival. “Fortunately these are minor changes and will have minimal impact on the runners’ experience.”
The Marathon and miniMarathon marks the largest annual day of road racing in Kentucky. This year’s race will again be capped at 18,000 runners. Registration is still available online at www.derbyfestivalmarathon.com. Current registration is $75 for the mini and $85 for the Marathon.
“Our registration is trending ahead this year,” said Deja Lawson, Race Director. “We encourage everyone who is planning to run, to sign up now to guarantee their spot.”
Operations, parking and other amenities at the start, finish and along the course remain unchanged. Both races will still start at 7:30 a.m. on Main Street in downtown Louisville and finish at Preston and Witherspoon Streets. The runners will also run through the main gate at Churchill Downs for their lap through the infield.
Walmart and HumanaVitality are co-presenting sponsors of the Marathon and miniMarathon. The Official Race Medical Provider and Training Partner is Norton Sports Health and Contributing Sponsors are ASICS, Bluegrass Family Health, Churchill Downs, Courier-Journal Media, and Powerade. Supporting Sponsors: Dean’s Milk, Louisville Water Company and UPS. Official Pace Car: MINI OF LOUISVILLE.
