Balloons soar across Louisville in Great Balloon Race

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- From a race on the ground, to a race in the sky, the Great Balloon Race lifted off on Saturday morning.

More than a dozen balloons were part of this year's event, which began just after 7 a.m. at Bowman Field.

During the race, one balloon takes off first and lays a 50 foot fabric "X" on the field. The other pilots have to go find it and drop their bag of Kentucky bluegrass seed as close to the target as possible.

The pilot with the closest marker gets the highest score.

This year's winner was the Mirazon balloon, which was piloted by Jerry Copas. Copas came within 1 foot and 7 inches of the target, according to Kentucky Derby Festival officials.

Eight of the 11 pilots made a measurable toss of their bag of seed near the "X" target.

"The heat from that is also pretty amazing," Dean Van Der Merwe said, a spectator at the event. "It's not really something you think about when you see it on TV or on camera or anything like that, but when you get close you feel the heat. It's pretty cool."

On Friday night, the balloons filled Waterfront Park for the Great Balloon Glow.