Dozens of Northern Kentucky runners will be heading south at the end of the month, turning the tables on the commonwealth’s premier sport, as the humans run and the horses watch.
We will be joining thousands of others from nearly every state in the union — 48 last time I checked — to run the roads through the bluegrass fields around Keeneland in the annual RunTheBluegrass half-narathon on March 28.
“It’s a bit unfair to most other races to call RunTheBluegrass an actual race, because it’s more of an experience,” said Tracey Outlaw, who serves as the race’s ambassador in Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. “That is what sets RunTheBluegrass apart from any race I have ever run.”
Tracey said it includes a full weekend for runners and their families, including tours of Keeneland, the horse farms, and the bourbon distilleries in the area. There’s a pre-race dinner that this year includes guest host Harvey Lewis of Cincinnati, an ultrarunner who won the 2014 Badwater 135 foot race.
Tracey said the race’s involvement in the local community is at the heart of its success. Race Director Eric Patrick Marr puts giving back to the community — both local and the larger running community — at the forefront of the race’s mission. Last year, the race VIP was runner Heather Abbott, who lost a leg at the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Part of the race proceeds helped pay for her medical expenses, which include the prosthetic leg she received prior to the race. This year, it’s Scott Menzies, the husband of Meg Cross Menzies, who was a mother of three young children when she was killed by a drunken driver while out on a run. RunTheBluegrass will make donations to the Meg Menzies Memorial Fund.
“It’s this focus on investing in others, supporting a community, and making connections between runners that I think is special about RunTheBluegrass,” Tracey said.
Eric, 41, the founder of the non-profit LeXenomics Group, has been directing RunTheBluegrass since about 2½ months before the 2011 race. He said the race’s drawing card is that it takes advantage of the countryside around Lexington and not just the city itself. Instead of basing the race around the downtown, it takes place in and around Keeneland, using roads that pass by some of Kentucky’s iconic horse farms.
“Our scenery is so different than any urban race you’ll ever run,” Eric said. “There’s literally no other place on earth with so many multi-million-dollar thoroughbred farms like here in Central Kentucky. Running is a social sport these days, very much built around the overall experience of race week, not necessarily just the 13.1 miles.”
He also thinks the race’s timing, about a month before the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati, makes it a perfect training run and attractive to our area. That could be why some 150 people have signed up to make the trek.
Plus, it has spectators who want to run with you.
“The thing really unusual about the race is the spectators,” Tracey said. “They are very quiet. In fact, they don’t say a word. Unlike the Chicago or the Flying Pig race courses that are lined with loud spectators cheering as you go, the RunTheBluegrass spectators are horses. They do tend to line up along the fences watching thousands of us run by. I have found them to be very accommodating for selfies though.”
For most runners, it’s not just the horses and the beautiful scenery, but also the challenging, hilly course that lets RunTheBluegrass live up to its boast as “America’s prettiest half-marathon.” It’s why we drive the 90 miles to Lexington, spending money on a hotel or begging friends to put us up for the night, to run in the unpredictable weather that is Central Kentucky in late March.
At least 30 members of my Edgewood-based running group are making the trip.
“In 2014, RunTheBluegrass was my very first half marathon.” said Amie Sexton of Alexandria. “The pictures of the course were so beautiful, and the finisher’s medal looked great. The weather was terrible last year, so I’m going back this year in hopes of seeing that beautiful course.”
Jill Overmann Fessler of Erlanger said the race is so well organized that it’s relaxing.
“It’s truly one of the most peaceful and beautiful courses I’ve ever ran,” she said. “It keeps getting better and better every year.”
Karen Becker Slayer of Independence is going back for her third race.
“My friends and I registered in 2013 as a girls’ getaway that wasn’t too far away or expensive,” Karen said. “We had a blast. Because I went to Transylvania University for a couple of semesters, I was able to visit friends who still live in the area. As for the race itself — it’s one everyone should do, especially when the weather is good. Eric Marr, the race director, seems to go the extra mile to make sure the race experience is one to remember.”
Indeed, said Beth Young of Chicago, who is returning for her second race, Eric does make the race special for every participant. That’s why she’s again making the seven-hour drive to Lexington.
“Last year’s awards ceremony was delayed because Eric went out on the course to run in with the final runners,” Beth said. “In the many years I’ve been running, and in all the races I’ve completed, never before have I met a race director who cared more about the quality of the event and the experience of his competitors.”
Paul Long writes weekly for the NKyTribune about running and runners. For his daily running stories, follow him at dailymile.com or on Twitter @Pogue57