Iron Horse Half Marathon Recap

Location: Midway, Kentucky

Date: October 15, 2017

I heard about the Iron Horse Half Marathon in Midway, KY a couple of years ago from a Daily Mile friend named Tiffany. It was no coincidence that Tiffany approached me after the race to say “Hello” and to formally introduce herself. After all, I am easily recognized simply by being one of the few Black women in majority of the races I do.

Initially, I wanted to PR this race because I had some good training runs leading up to it. I did not consider the elevation changes and the warm fall temperatures to start the race. The weather for this time of year can be hit or miss. The wind was strong throughout the rolling hills with temps around 67° and humid. The saving grace was the cloud cover.

Midway is only about a 45-minute drive from Louisville. I arrived in the small town and went to the Midway Christian Church for packet pick up. The church allowed use of it’s restrooms which was nice to avoid the porta potties near the start line.

Going through Midway towards the 2nd loop of the course.

The national anthem was sung by a group of young women. For the first time in my life, I questioned what I was standing up for. I observed how it was not a big deal for people to mill around, but there is so much controversy about athletes taking a knee to protest social injustice.

Start Line

The Iron Horse Half course can be described as a figure 8 course. There is a down and out for the first 6.5 miles that loops the farms and back towards the heart of Midway.

First loop turn around.

The entire course was very scenic and I stopped to take photos along the way.

Plenty of activity to distract runners from a hilly course.

Only because I took a selfie at Run the Bluegrass in Lexington.

The next down and out went past the college towards more farms before looping back into a residential area. The hills on this section were grueling.

The difference between running down and being defeated by having to walk up the hills.

The race towards the finish line was intense as with all of my finishes. One guy tried to hang with me for the final sprint, but he gave up and told me to take the lead.

Tiffany and I walked back to the starting area where she took a photo of me at the caboose and we signed up for free massages.

RJ Corbin Caboose

Another perk to running the Iron Horse Half Marathon is free professional photo downloads.

I was happy it was over.

I ordered a medium in the race shirt, but I cannot wear it because the sleeves are too tight in the forearms.

Poster, finisher medal, Brooks tech shirt, bag.

Overall, the Iron Horse Half Marathon was a good race to check off my list for Kentucky racing.  The course was more difficult than Lexington’s Run the Bluegrass Half Marathon.  I liked the scenery of Iron Horse more, however, I was not a fan of the figure 8 course.

Iron Horse Half Marathon Official Results-

Finish Time: 1:53:04, 8:38 pace

Age Group Place: 5 of 47

Women’s Overall Place: 24 of 306

Overall Place: 104 of 586

♡KelsieLou♡