Even if you aren’t a runner, you can still have a good time in downtown Danville as the 2024 Bourbon Chase relay passes through town.
More than 2,500 runners will participate in this year’s race, which begins at the Jim Beam distillery in Clermont on the morning of Friday, Oct. 4 enroute to the finish line on Saturday, Oct. 5 in downtown Lexington. The more than 200-mile-long route brings teams to Perryville by early afternoon on Oct. 4, then on to Wilderness Trail Distillery in Danville before the first wave of runners reaches the exchange point downtown at Weisiger Park around 6 p.m., just after the band The Mercury 7 begins performing. They’ll be on stage at the park from 5:30-8:30 p.m.
“Bourbon Chase teams will come to and through downtown over several hours on Oct. 4,” said Kendall Clinton, executive director of the Danville-Boyle County Tourism Office. “It’s a relay race, so many of the team members who aren’t running at the time will get a break to have dinner, rest and relax while they are in Danville. We’ve made plans to give them a memorable experience while they are here, with live music throughout the night by The Mercury 7, a 360 video booth where they can make their own clips to share on social media and games in the street. And though this is an event for Bourbon Chase runners, we want local residents and other visitors to come downtown as well and join in the fun.”
To allow time to set up tables, chairs and games, and prepare for the influx of runners, street closures will occur near Weisiger Park early Friday afternoon and remain closed until the last teams pass through the exchange point late that evening.
After runners leave the exchange point, they’ll continue on to Stanford before returning to Danville later in the evening to the exchange point at Millennium Park before heading north into Mercer County. Runners will be wearing reflective clothing and lights, but drivers are still asked to pay special attention throughout the afternoon and evening as the Bourbon Chase participants and their more than 400 team vans pass through Boyle County.