Kentucky Derby Mini Marathon- April 2009

At the beginning, my desire to run half marathons was the direct result of my love life, or lack thereof. In April 2009 I found myself single again and vowed to resume my active lifestyle. It was right about this time that I decided to add Running a Half Marathon in All 50 States to my bucket list. Part of Derby Week includes a half marathon and I'd never seen a real horse race, so I signed up and booked a flight.

The night before the race my friend Will took me to what happens to be the best Indian food you can find in the South, a little place called Kashmir, within walking distance of his house. The restaurant suffered major damage from a fire in 2010 but happily is set to re-open soon. Neither one of us finished our meals and took the leftovers to go. We didn't even make it to the end of the block before a young homeless couple asked if they could have our food. Without question we handed the boxes to them, but to be honest I was saddened to give it away!

The next morning Will begrudgingly awoke at 5 am to take me to the starting line, only after mocking my warm-up routine which occurred in the floor of his hallway. Let's just say that vaseline and moleskin aren't sexy. We stopped at a convenience store on the way to the race so I could pick up some Immodium, a trick that I learned many, many runners use before a race. A cop at 7-11 offered to buy me a donut, which may have been the one and only time I have ever turned down such an offer.

The course was beautiful. My favorite section was through a large park with some rolling hills. I was about exhausted by this point when a woman pushing a jogging stroller passed me by. She was pushing a jogging stroller carrying a little girl of about 7 who obviously suffered from cerebral palsy. Knowing she had to be pushing a good 80 pounds up and down those hills I ran over and gave her a hand for that mile, thanking God for my own good health along the way. We parted ways as we hit downtown Louisville, where there were cheering crowds on most corners. I've never heard Eye of the Tiger as many times as I did then. Finally we ran into the tunnel leading into Churchill Downs and up onto the backside of the track. Horses with trainers flashed by as we pounded through, drawing from our excitement as well as their own. Tad and his son met me at the finish line. Dillon was a little overwhelmed by the huge crowd, but six months later they returned to the same spot and he declared, "Hey Dad, isn't this where we met Leah after the race?". Perhaps I've inspired a future runner :)

Finish Time: 2:20:18