The road to the Kentucky Derby goes through King Tut

Well the time has finally come to run half number 2 on the road to becoming  a half fanatic.  This race takes me and Megan to a new state..Kentucky.  Can you say Road Trip?


We set out bright and early on Friday morning for the race that was scheduled on Saturday.  I figured it was going to be a long day, but sometimes you just don't realize how long.  Luckily Megan was trippin' with me so at least we did not have to go it alone :)  We hit WV around lunch time and decided to look for somewhere to eat.  Well it is the age of the iphone, so lets see what Yelp has to offer.  Looking I find The Meeting place..however it seems we already passed it so that is out of the running for our place for lunch.  Next up a place that has gotten great reviews.  4 1/2 stars on yelp.  Want to eat at King Tut?    

Yeah it looks a bit scary...but what a great drive in with great food!  It was so good that we stopped by when we were on our way home to have lunch.  When you pull in the first thing you notice is that the menu is on the side of a large fence.

We didn't really know what to do.  We had never been to a real drive in before.  We watched the locals and figured it out pretty quickly.  The waitress recommend the stuffed potatoes (which most people on yelp recommended too) and some milkshakes along with a nice cheese steak sandwich. 

I'm so glad that we found this great place!  Thanks Yelp!  We finished eating and figured out what we had to do to have the waitress take our tray.  Then we were back on the road. 

 Soon (as in 8 1/2 hours later) we came to Louisville, Ky!  Finally our race city!  We checked in to the hotel and then headed for packet pickup. 

The Expo was a traditional expo.  Nothing outstanding.  We then headed outside and towards the Spaghetti Factory.  I guess we were not the only runners with that idea...the wait was 2 hours long!  I don't think eating at 9pm would work well as a great pre-race meal.  So we headed down the street aimlessly trying to find a replacement.  Finally after asking a local we were pointed in the direction of fourth street.  Thank you local!  You saved our lives!

Fourth street was great!  A band was playing in the middle of fourth street and all of the restaurants and bars had their large windows open so it felt like you were right up front listening to the music.  We headed to a bar that had a small bowling alley in the middle of the place.  It was here that I had the pleasure of meeting a young drunk rugby player..Doug I believe is his name.  He was drinking long islands like they were water.  He was curious about my race bag.  Once he found out we were running the half ("its pretty respectable I guess" says Doug)  He tells us about his 25K that he runs.  First he warns us about all of the blisters that we are going to get on our feet.  Megan informs him that we have run a half before and we do not get blisters.  Maybe when you run a bunch of 25k's you get blisters. :)  I quickly figured out that drunk boy was going to be fun to talk to about racing!  He then proceeds to tell me that he usually wins his races..well except when the Kenyans win.  Well..hello...everyone finishes behind the Kenyans! lol  He doesn't remember what place he usually finishes, but he is fast.  And really if you are not going to finish in the top 16 (why he picks this number is beyond both Megan and myself) why race?  Also he advised us on how to run.  You must go all out so that you die at the end.  If you run half way and then just finish there is no point in running..you must die at the end!  I loved Drunk Doug!  He was so entertaining.  Unfortunately the night had to end early because we had a race to run in the morning.  Fingers crossed that we both come in the top 16.

As we head out of the bar I notice a wonderful man in a white suit..in Kentucky who would of thought that I would get to take a picture with the man himself!!!

 I love people dressed in costume!  Thank you Colonel for being there...you brought such a smile to my face. :)

We headed back to the hotel and went to sleep early.  Dreams of placing the top 16 ran through my mind. 

Race Day Recap coming next!