Race Registration Closes at Midnight on April 24th
Louisville, KY. – The Kentucky Derby Festival is re-routing a small portion of the 2018 Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon/Marathon presented by Humana due to recent lane closures on Main Street between 4th and 7th Streets. The races are set for this Saturday, April 28. The changes will affect runners in both the mini and Marathon within the first two miles as runners are diverted around the construction along Main Street. Runners will instead go west on Market Street.
“All downtown traffic is being rerouted on Main Street in this area and the Kentucky Derby Festival is no exception,” said Shanna Ward, Race Director for the Kentucky Derby Festival. “Fortunately because these are minor changes to the course, they will have minimal impact on the runners’ experience.”
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.
Registration for the 45th annual miniMarathon and 17th annual Marathon closes on Tuesday, April 24th at midnight. Entry fees are $95 for the mini and $105 for the Marathon. To celebrate the sunny race day forecast, race organizers are sharing a special discount code for those runners who haven’t registered yet. Use code FUNSUNKDF18 to receive $20 off registration at DerbyFestivalMarathon.com. The Derby Festival road races are still the largest annual day of road racing in Kentucky.
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 intersections, to ensure residents and businesses can still reach their destination when breaks in the race permit.
Humana is Presenting Sponsor of the miniMarathon and Marathon. The Official Race Medical Partner is Norton Sports Health and Contributing Sponsors are BB&T, Churchill Downs, Louisville Water Company, Powerade, and The Courier-Journal. Official Bourbon: Jim Beam®. Official Hotel: The Galt House. Official Pace Team: Dick’s Sporting Goods.
The Derby Festival is an independent community organization supported by 4,000 volunteers, 400 businesses and civic groups, Pegasus Pin sponsorships and event participation. It entertains more than 1.5 million people annually. This involvement has made the Festival the largest single attended event in Kentucky and one of the leading community celebrations in the world.
