This is the best race in Kentucky! The course is challenging, but fast and the course offers some great scenery. Course runs through Cherokee park, which offers a few tough hills. The tech shirts are awesome, this years shirt reads " sorry I'm sweaty I was drinking bourbon". The bourbon bottle shaped medals are unique and they offer complimentary medal engraving after the finish. One of the most compelling reasons to run this race, the post race party can't be beat! Runners get a wristband at packet pickup for beer, bourbon, pizza, and burgoo at the bourbon bash at the finish line. Only con I have for this race is that the digital swag bag has declined a little over the years, but that's not enough to keep me from coming back every year!

This race is the second leg of the fall runathon. It's fairly new, about 4/5 years old so I'll give them a break for not having everything ironed out just yet. Packet pickup was at academy sports which was convenient if you needed to grab something but it was just a registration table in the store so not much going on there. The tshirts are ugly (sorry not sorry), really hoping they improve in the future. Parking was surprisingly good, they had cars parked in a field before the egg lawn. The field had two exits to speed up the exit. The course is an out and back with only one real hill at mile 3. Medals are pretty standard and the award for age group winners are small plaque with a basic description( name of race, age group, place). They emailed after the race to pick them up at fleet feet sports, which was convenient and easy. This is my favorite part of the fall runathon and always draws a pretty solid participant base. I will continue to make this race and annual tradition!

There are lots of race options in Louisville on Thanksgiving, and while this one doesn't have the high end swag or finish line treats like some of the others it's my personal favorite. I like that the race fees go to a good organization that helps the community and the competition is usually on point. Course is an out and back for the 5k, straight down whips mill and back to the branch, and the 10k runs through the UOfL Shelby campus before heading back to the branch. Last year they had some issues with course distance and I actually hit the 10k mark about 1/4 mile before the finish line so we will see if they get it all worked out this year. Parking is kind of a mess so get here early. There are plenty of places in the surrounding are to park but you might have to walk a little ways to get to the start.