Kentucky Derby Festival

April 26, 2025. Louisville, KY. – An estimated 10,000 runners raced around Louisville streets for Kentucky’s largest day of road racing! The GE Appliances miniMarathon and Marathon set off this morning under cloudy, cool and breezy conditions. For the first time since 2019, the Finish Line returned to Preston and Witherspoon Streets, just outside of the Waterfront. After crossing the finish, all participants received a rose gold Finisher’s Medal embellished with the Derby Festival’s signature Pegasus symbol surrounded by a starburst design.

“Our team works to make this race day a memorable experience for all the participants,” said Matt Gibson, Kentucky Derby Festival President & CEO. “They’ve put in a lot of work getting ready for the GE Appliances mini, Marathon or Relay and we’re honored to have them running with us.”

This year’s race, featuring runners from across the country and around the world, also included an Olympian in the line-up. Olympic Bronze Medalist Jenny Simpson participated in the annual springtime tradition and took second place in the miniMarathon Women’s Division finishing at 1:19:07.

Two Kentuckians were among the top finishers, including Corbin Harris of Campbellsville, KY, who won the miniMarathon in the Men’s Division, clocking in at 1:08:14, and Jacob Kocis of Versailles, KY, who came in first in the Marathon Men’s Division with a time of 2:23:34.

The was Kocis’ first time competing in the Derby Festival road races. “I’m training for the Olympic trials three years down the road. I wanted to pick a local (race) to kind of get the ball rolling and this looked like a really fun course with great energy,” Kocis said. “Going through Churchill Downs and seeing all of the historic parts of Louisville was special!”

Hannah Bast, who is from Louisville and currently lives in Indianapolis, was the first-place winner in the Marathon Women’s Division at 2:49:38.

“I did the mini here 10 years ago. This is my first time doing the full,” she said. “It was fun to come back. I consider Louisville my hometown, so to be here to run the Marathon was just a lot of fun.”

Mayor Craig Greenberg also ran the half marathon. “It was an amazing miniMarathon. Thank you so much Kentucky Derby Festival. Perfect weather, perfect course, huge crowds, loved every second of it!”

The GE Appliances Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon and Marathon set off at 7 a.m. on Main Street, near Louisville Slugger Field, and finished just outside of the Waterfront at Preston and Witherspoon Streets. Runners in the miniMarathon and Marathon experienced a tour of some of Louisville’s most iconic sights. The course went through downtown, the historic Old Louisville neighborhood and parts of the picturesque Olmsted Parks System. Participants also ran a lap inside Churchill Downs just one week before the running of the Kentucky Derby. For the second year in a row, Marathoners raced along a stretch of Southern Parkway and through Iroquois Park.

The top finishers include:

miniMarathon MEN’s WHEELCHAIR Division