Triple Crown of Running may be over. What does that mean for Louisville races – Courier Journal

Runners in downtown Louisville on the Saturday prior to the Derby as they begin the KDF Marathon and miniMarathon. Scott Utterback, Louisville Courier Journal

Whether you run a 5-minute or a 15-minute mile, training for the Triple Crown of Running series has been a way to pull ourselves out of the doldrums of Louisville’s winter weather and, if we’re being honest — an exit ramp to a healthier routine after weeks of holiday fun.

So, when the Triple Crown organizers announced last week they’d pulled the plug on the 35-year tradition because of declining entries, a lack of sponsors and increased costs, the local running community screamed out a collective, “Oh no!”

Comprised of the Anthem 5K Fitness Classic, Rodes City Run 10K and Papa John’s 10 Miler, the well-established series of races was held between February and the end of March.

Runners typically began their training for the Triple Crown series in late December or early January with the 13-mile Kentucky Derby Festival’s mini-Marathon in April as their goal.

Although the Kentucky Derby Festival race hasn’t been affiliated with the Triple Crown running events for many years, for local runners, the race series and the half marathon fit together like PB&J.

“The miniMarathon was part of the Triple Crown of Running in the early years,” said Aimee Boyd, Kentucky Derby Festival vice president of communications. “We appreciated the partnership and know the series had become a staple in Louisville. We hate to see that it’s going away.”

So where does that leave runners who planned their mid-winter and spring training around the Triple Crown series and Kentucky Derby Festival race? And does the elimination of a well-established race series indicate a decline in the popularity of road racing in the Bluegrass?

In short, no.

For one thing, don’t count out the Triple Crown series quite yet.

All Community Events, an Illinois-based group that already organizes running and walking events in Louisville and Lexington along with races in various states, is in talks with city officials to keep the annual race series going.

All Community Events Founder and President Peter Starykowicz said his group wants to keep “what was really great about” the Triple Crown series while also improving the experience for runners and spectators.

“We feel a great deal of pressure on our end that if we’re going to do this, it’s done in a way where the participants are going to come in and say, ‘This is awesome,'” Starykowicz said. “We think tradition-based running events are really important to the running community.”

Even if the spring running series indeed comes to an end, Karl Schmitt, president of the Louisville Sports Commission, which organizes the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon, the anchor leg of the Fall Runathon Series, doesn’t think it is the end of the road of local racing — not by a long shot.

“Look there is a race almost every weekend in Kentucky and often there are multiple races on the same day,” he said. “All those races mean race organizers have to work to attract participants. There is a lot more competition to get runners to your event then there was 30 years ago.”

We were curious to see if that was true, so we took a look at a random weekend in the near future. Here is what we found for Saturday, June 29 as an example of what is available for runners and walkers in the Kentucky region:

Joe Creason Parkrun 5K, Louisville
The Color Run 5K, Louisville
Fort Knox Sergeant Audie Murphy 5K, Vine Grove
The Great Amazing Race, Louisville
Freedom Mile, Campbellsville
Man o’ War 5K-10K Lexington
Run for Another 5K and 10K, Georgetown
Run to Care 5K and One Mile Run or Walk, Flemingsburg
Powell County Search and Rescue Run for Fun 5K, Stanton
RJ Corman 5K, Wilmore

That’s 10 road races on a single day, and we haven’t included trail races or adventure competitions in this list. That’s good news for weekend warriors because there is so much to choose from but bad news for race organizers who are up against plenty of competition.

But competition hasn’t always been an issue. In 1974, the Kentucky Derby Festival held its first 13-mile miniMarathon and a whopping 301 people lined up at the start.

“Amateur road racing was in its infancy back then,” Boyd said. “It was a totally unique experience. There wasn’t anything else like it around.” Now the KDF marathon draws thousands of runners.

But that’s not the case in 2019. There are literally thousands of races to chose from around the country, offering everything from bands performing at each mile marker to craft beer or bourbon parties at the finish line and loads of post-race swag.

To stay in the game, race organizers need to offer a variety of incentives and perks to participants.

“If you own a race today, you had better be very close to what the runner’s experience is all about,” Schmitt said. “You need to know what they are looking for and make those adjustments along the way.”

Both the Kentucky Derby Festival and Louisville Sports Commission routinely survey runners to understand what they expect from a race experience.

Runners (and walkers) comments have influenced everything from the type of race course, quality of the participation shirt and medal, type of food served pre- and post-race, timing systems as well as the preferred form of communication between organizers and participants.

In other words, race organizers do a lot more than set up a start and finish line.

“In 2019 we added new elements to the KDF Marathon relay division because participants were looking for short distances to walk or run but still be a part of the races,” Boyd said.

It was an adjustment KDF says it needed to make. Since a record number of 17,800 runners took part in its 2012 race, the numbers have dropped off — only 12,000 signed up this year.

“The KDF mini and full Marathon still make up the single largest day of road racing in Kentucky each year,” said Boyd. “Half of the field is made up of local participants and 70 percent of the participants are repeat runners, but we know its important to keep listening to what participants want and we keep adjusting.”

Runners are branching out and choosing to spend their money entering events like adventure and novelty races, triathlons, open-water swims, mountain bike races, trail runs, and classes like CrossFit, boutique fitness studios and group yoga.

Combine that with the fact that Schmitt said the number of new runners coming into the sport has flattened out over the past decade with only about a 1% increase. Still, the bigger issue is attracting and retaining participants with so many other available options.

“Sometimes there are things you can’t control, like a string of bad weather,” Schmitt said. “There are some races that have suffered from bad conditions year after year and runners pass that along. Weather and word of mouth have a big impact.”

Runners in the 2018 Triple Crown’s Papa John’s 10 Miler fought a wintry mess that anyone who took part won’t soon forget.

“I have done the Triple Crown for years but for me in 2018, the year that had sleet, rain and snow at the 10 Miler, that experience made me pass this year,” said veteran runner Katherine Giles.

To draw in new runners to Louisville’s races, both the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon and the Kentucky Derby Festival Races send representatives to race expos in other cities to promote their events.

They also create special experiences like a series of unique medals for the Kentucky Derby Festival races with favorite Louisville scenes like the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs and the Louisville Slugger Bat. The Urban Bourbon run also holds a post-race party which has been rated as the best in the country.

Schmitt said understanding how to create a memorable experience for runners who choose to participate is the key to the future success of any race.

With that in mind, both the Sports Commission and the Kentucky Derby Festival say runners shouldn’t rule out a new and improved spring race series in the future.

“Because the running community is so supportive of the Kentucky Derby Festival, we’d be open to conversations about creating a running series that feeds into the mini and Marathon,” Boyd said.

Schmitt also said not to rule out a spring runathon series similar to the Sports Commission’s races in the fall. The Fall Runathon includes the Pure Tap 5K and the Norton Sports Health 10K in advance of the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon.

“It’s important to keep people in our community activities all year round, he said. “So it just makes sense that we explore ideas to keep the tradition alive in the spring.”

In the meantime, lace up your shoes and get your training schedule in order. Registration is open for races both large and small including the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon, Fall Runathon Series and even next spring’s Kentucky Derby Festival mini and Marathon.

Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/kirbya.

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