Your plan in four answers
Set for April 24, 2027, about 26 weeks out.
- Distances
- Half marathon, Marathon
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- April 12, 2027
Course
The Derby Festival miniMarathon course
The half, universally called the miniMarathon, is one of the largest in the country and the centrepiece of the Derby Festival. Both distances run through Churchill Downs, which is the moment everyone comes for.
Read the full course notes
Away from the track the course rolls gently through downtown Louisville, and the full marathon adds Louisville's South End, a stretch along Southern Parkway, and the climbing through Iroquois Park. It is run on a Saturday.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- Half marathon, Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Late April in Louisville can be perfect or muggy, and the difference is usually humidity rather than temperature. Starts in the 50s warming through the 60s are typical, with a real chance of a warm, sticky morning.
What to train for
Crowd-adjusted pacing and heat tolerance.
This is a big field on city streets, so the first two miles will be slower than you planned and the temptation is to spend the next four making them up.
Train goal pace off a relaxed start, and get some warm-weather running in during the build rather than meeting humidity for the first time on race day.
Sample week
A sample Derby Festival miniMarathon training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Intervals: 5 × 1 km at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Derby Festival miniMarathon
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on April 24, 2027, your taper starts around April 12, 2027.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the Kentucky Derby Festival miniMarathon & Marathon (Half marathon) on April 24, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Derby Festival miniMarathon training questions
How long should I train for the Derby Festival miniMarathon?
Most runners give a half marathon twelve to sixteen weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The plan above counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Derby Festival miniMarathon course hilly?
Rolling. The half, universally called the miniMarathon, is one of the largest in the country and the centrepiece of the Derby Festival.
What is the weather usually like at the Derby Festival miniMarathon?
Late April in Louisville can be perfect or muggy, and the difference is usually humidity rather than temperature. Starts in the 50s warming through the 60s are typical, with a real chance of a warm, sticky morning.
When should I start tapering for the Derby Festival miniMarathon?
Start the taper ten to fourteen days before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on April 24, 2027, your taper starts around April 12, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Derby Festival miniMarathon training plan?
No. The plan above builds in your browser with no account, no email, and no card. Make a free account only if you want to keep it, log your runs against it, and have the coach keep adapting it as your training goes.