Saturday, October 14, 2023 • Louisville, KY • Course Map
The banks of the Ohio River as well as this famous Kentucky city’s downtown streets and parks are the setting for the Urban Bourbon Half Marathon, which makes its 10th annual running this year and features a finish line along Louisville’s Liberty Street, just down from the Jim Beam Urban Stillhouse.
If you like bourbon, this is your race — there’s Jim Beam at the finish line, where you can tour the distillery on Whiskey Row and enjoy bourbon tastings in the post-race lounge, as well as range of VIP experiences you can learn more about on the race website.
Starts near the convention center downtown. Organized by the Louisville Sports Commission, the same race organization that stages the annual Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon and Mini Marathon here the week before the “most famous two minutes in sports,” the half marathon starts along Main Street, between 6th Street and 5th Street, near the Kentucky Science Center and the Muhammad Ali Center.
After turns on Chestnut Street and Lexington Road, the course then crosses over a bridge and into the eastern part of the city, where the next stretch of the course takes runners along the edges of Cave Hill National Cemetery, whose history dates all the way back to the early 1860s.
Runners next head east along Lexington Road into Louisville’s Cherokee Park, where runners will make their way along nearly two miles of the park’s Scenic Loop, which has separate lanes for cars and walkers, runners and bikers.
Run the Scenic Loop. The route will take runners past the Cherokee Golf Course near the park’s western edge as well as past Hogan’s Fountain, which lies right in the heart of the park along the Scenic Loop.
One of the first parks designed by Frederick Law Olmstead — whose masterworks include the designs for both Prospect Park and Central Park in New York City — Cherokee Park features large open green spaces and rolling meadows that runners will make their way through as they turn off the Scenic Loop near the park’s southern edge and head onto Cherokee Park Road, which takes them out of the park near its northeastern corner.
The last few miles of the race bring runners back into downtown all the way to the finish line at Jefferson Street and 4th Street.
The starting line of the 2015 Urban Bourbon Half Marathon. (Photo courtesy Urban Bourbon Half Marathon)
Out on the course at the 2015 race. (Photo courtesy Urban Bourbon Half Marathon)
Runners on the course at the 2017 Urban Bourbon Half Marathon.
Runners on the course at the half marathon.
Crossing the finish line first in 2015.
Race Weather & Climate
Located in the northern central part of the state along the banks of the winding Ohio River, Louisville typically sees its driest weather of the year in October, which has brought record temperatures here as low as 23ºF (in 1952) and as high as 93ºF (in 2007).
- Oct. 14 average low temp: 53°F
- Oct. 14 average high temp: 70°F
Urban Bourbon Half Marathon Past Results
- 2022 Half Marathon Results
- 2021 Half Marathon results
- 2019 Half Marathon Results
- 2018 Half Marathon Results
- 2017 Half Marathon Results
- 2016 Half Marathon Results
- 2015 Half Marathon Results
- 2014 Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Half Marathon Results
- 2012 Half Marathon Results
Urban Bourbon Half Marathon Course Map
See the race route map for the half marathon here.
Starting Time
8:00 AM
Course Time Limit
3 hours, 15 minutes — or 15 minute/mile
Fees
$70 and up
Urban Bourbon Half Marathon Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2023 running, register online at RunSignUp.com here.
Angus, did you get a response? Get in touch with me, I may have a solution to your problem that would help both of us out. ? Hollywood0502@aol.com
Hi there
I am a 19 year old freshman this year at the university of Kentucky and am planning on running a half marathon later this year. In order to benefit my community and help develop myself as a person, I plan on running and fundraising for one of the local high schools in Lexington, hoping to raise money to support the sports programs. I understand that you say that you have to be 21 in order to race, but I was just wondering if you would make an exception due to the nature of the venture. I don’t mind wearing a sign saying I am u21, it is just that your half marathon would be the ideal course to run and is situated at the perfect time of year for me to train up to and effectively raise money.
Thank you for your time
Angus McKenzie