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☰
GO! St. Louis Marathon Runner Comments
Back to GO! St. Louis Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.9 
Organization 3.9 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 357 [displaying comments 161 to 171]
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G. K. from Saint Louis, MO
(4/17/2007)
"A couple of adjustments and it will be great" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 Great weather and a good course; just a couple of observations: 1. The start corral needs to be organized so that runners/walkers know how to line up by expected pace, as other large races do. Although this was included on the back page of the race program, I didn't see any markers on the corral itself. I got stuck behind numerous walkers, which was frustrating. 2. It seems dangerous to have the elite runners coming back east (especially on Market Street) when the masses are still westbound. Additionally, people were cutting across the return race route to use the porta-potties, and there could have easily been a collision. Otherwise, a great event.... Thanks! | |
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J. A. from Minnesota
(4/17/2007)
"Beautiful day; rolling hills; they ran out of beer" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I came to St. Louis on my 50 state quest and because a friend was running it. He lied and said the course was flat. I would not describe the hills as big.... There just seemed to be a lot of them. The weather was perfect on Sunday with high 30's for the start and a sunny 55 at the finish. The volunteers did a good job and I thought there seemed to be a decent number of spectators. I can't believe that with AB as a sponsor they could run out of beer. From what I heard, the half marathoners drank it all, but with the brewery only a couple of miles away, you would think they could get more. This is really more of a half-marathon with over 10,000 doing the shorter run and 2,000 doing the full. It has the feel of a big-time marathon, so if that is what you are looking for, I would recommend it. | |
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MoreGu Please from IL
(4/17/2007)
"More gel, fewer hills" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Lucky to have awesome weather, but the hills are fairly tough. Running by Anh-Busch was cool, as was Forest Park. Need more gel stations though - having only 2 on the course was a bit ridiculous. More stations with oranges too! | |
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C. B. from Papillion, Nebraska
(4/16/2007)
"Great race, fans, and course. Weather was perfect." (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I loved having clocks at each mile marker. The water/Gatorade stations were more than adequate. There were spectators along the whole course, being very vocal. Several live bands. The military band at the start and the kids playing violins in the park were wonderful. No real steep hills but several steady inclines. Plenty of port-a-johns along the course and at the start. I loved going through the echoing tunnel at Anheuser-Busch! Fellow marathoners were very friendly. Only complaint was that the pace team members weren't at the expo when I came at 6:40 p.m. Saturday to pick up my bib number. I never did see the 4:30 pace team member on the course. All in all, a great race! And the weather was awesome: 40 degrees at the start and around 60 at end. Very little wind. Perfect! Thanks St. Louis! Oh, and the staff at the Expo Hotel (Adam's Mark) were exceptional - especially in the Club room on the 17th floor! They treated our whole family like royalty! | |
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M. M. from Oxford, MS
(4/16/2007)
"Smaller Race, Very Hilly" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 The people in St. Louis were very helpful and friendly during our stay. The weather was perfect, but the course was hilly. It always seemed as if you were either going up or down a hill; they were constant even to the end, with a nice climb to get to the 26-mile marker!!! The aid stations were supposed to be at every 2 miles until the 18th mile, but most were either before the mile markers or after them. The mile markers were also hard to find at times (esp. 9) and the distances between the mile markers seemed inconsistent (especially between 10 and 11). After running this course, I would not recommend using it to qualify for the Boston Marathon unless you are from around St. Louis area and know what to expect coursewise. Also, the refreshment area seemed very unorganized after the race with no direction given by volunteers. I know the comments seem negative, but just being honest. To be fair, I am comparing it to the Music City Marathon in Nashville, which is very well done. St. Louis may have no desire to grow and become a major marathon, which is fine, but if they do, changes will have to be made in the future to attract more runners from outside the surrounding areas. Also disappointed that there were no posters at the expo, and the explanation that we received was that they just did not get done. It has potential, but as of now it is a smaller-type marathon that is covered with hills. | |
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Kami K. from Corpus Christi, TX
(4/16/2007)
"TOUGH!" (about: 2007)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Spirit of St. Louis Marathon Sunday, April 15, 2007 7:00 AM I flew into St. Louis on Saturday, took the Metro Link from the airport to downtown, got off at Busch Stadium (home of St. Louis Cardinals) station, and walked 4 blocks to Adam's Mark Hotel (race hotel, as well as the site for packet pick-up and expo). The packet pick-up was quick. Good expo too, which could have benefited from a larger place. As had been forecasted, Sunday turned out to be sunny and breezy. Temperature ranged from upper 30s to upper 50s. I had run the Knoxville Marathon two weeks earlier which I thought was tough. This one was even tougher! A large number of hills/lengthy inclines, and I am NOT exaggerating. As soon as we were about to recover from one, there was another one. Start and finish were in downtown. As we took off, as well as coming to the finish line, we could see the Gateway Arch, which indeed was eye-catching. From the start to mile 7 was out-and-back, and we ran around and through Anheuser-Busch Brewery. At about mile 9.5, half-marathoners made a U-turn towards their finish line. We continued running west through Washington University Medical Center to Forest Park. From about mile 12 to about mile 21 was a loop, and we ran through Washington University and several residential and business neighborhoods. Shortly after mile 16, we began running east. From about mile 21 to the finish line at Soldiers Memorial was the same route that we had run earlier. Overall, it was a fairly scenic course. This was a nicely organized event. There were water/Gatorade stations every other mile, beginning at mile 2, and every mile, beginning at mile 18. There were sports gels at two locations. There were a few bands/individual musicians alongside the route. Mile markers were easily visible and splits were digitally displayed. Crowd support was fine. Nice high-tech race T-shirt. Finisher's medal is one of the nicest that I have ever seen. Plenty of refreshments at the finish. I am a 50-stater and this was #28. | |
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Erica H. from Winthrop Harbor, Illinois
(4/16/2007)
"Somewhat disorganized start to a great race" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I really loved this race... except for the start. Although the P.A. system was extremely loud, nothing the speaker said was intelligible (kind of like Charlie Brown's teacher: 'wa-wah wa wa wa wa waaah'). I tried to line up where the race booklet suggested my pace should be - and found myself struggling to run past walkers and much slower runners for the first 4-5 miles, which was very frustrating. It would have been great if there were large banners clearly designating where walkers should be (at the back), or, even better, if the walkers had had their own start a few minutes after the runners. Also, it was never remotely clear to me when the starting 'gun' (or whatever it was) went off. Both of these problems really didn't affect my time due to the timing chip, and my slow early miles allowed me to run negative splits and a good PR. Still - it was just a rather chaotic and frustrating race start. Each and every other aspect of the race was wonderful - nice crowd support and entertainment evenly spread throughout the course, excellent police and paramedic support to control traffic and assist hurting runners, enjoyable course lay-out. | |
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D. W. from Chesterfield, MO
(4/16/2007)
"Photos" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 3 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 In '05 and '06 at the ages of 70 and 71, I entered my first and second half marathons, placing third and second in my age group. The photos during the race and at the finish were very important to me and I ordered lots. This year I did the full marathon and was looking forward to the photos, but the photographers were gone when I got to the finish line, even though the race was not yet closed. I was very disappointed, especially because I placed first in my age group. | |
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J. S. from Wisconsin, USA
(4/16/2007)
"A very good race overall!" (about: 2007)
2 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I ran the St. Louis Marathon yesterday. It was my second marathon. I thought overall everything was very good. With the marathon rates, we got a good deal on a hotel room downtown, which was very convenient. The course was pretty good - Forest Park was pretty, it was neat going past the brewery, and we went through some very nice neighborhoods. As others have mentioned though, maybe more landmarks/parks could be added rather than running past so many stores and restaurants. The course was hillier than I expected, although most were not very steep. However, I didn't really do any hill training and got by, so it wasn't terrible. There are not a whole lot of spectators compared to larger races, but the ones that were along the course were very supportive and energetic. Another poster commented on the large number of half marathon runners in the race. I would have to agree that there were too many. Lining up at the start, almost everyone around me was doing the half. I understand it makes sense to have the courses run together, but it made it crowded and it was a little bit discouraging to know that the majority of the people around me weren't going to be running the full. The on-course entertainment and art were fun and the food/beverages at the end were fine (well, except maybe the Michelob Ultra Light). A few improvements could be made, but overall I had a very good time and it was a good race, especially for a smallish marathon. | |
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J. Z. from Michigan
(4/16/2007)
"Great time in St. Louis" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I flew in on Saturday and stayed at the Adams Mark Hotel were the expo was held. The hotel was nice and the expo was decent. Picking up my race packet went quickly and I liked the technical race shirts and the design. Later that day I went to the pasta dinner at the city hall building. They had a live band and the usual pasta/rolls/salad. The weather on Saturday was rainy/windy, but Sunday everything cleared up and the sun came out making for good running conditions. The pace signs at the beginning made lining up in the right area easy as we waited for the start. Once the gun went off it did not take long to reach the starting mats. The course went out and did a loop around the brewery and then headed back into town. We proceeded to a real nice park to run through and then on to the finish line. The course was surprisingly hilly with a couple of real long inclines. The hill at mile 22 was a real challenge. It seemed like the whole time I was going up and down hills, but I didn't mind too much. It seemed like the inclines were actually easier on my legs than the declines. There were a number of spectators and a few bands along the route. Coming off an injury, my time goal was modest, but I achieved it with 10 minutes to spare. The finisher's medals were very nice and large. They had plenty to drink as well as bagels, chips, bananas and energy bars. Overall a very enjoyable experience and I would recommend the marathon to anyone. Only minor complaints I have is that the hotel would not guarantee a late check-out until race morning. And it would have also been nice to have a shuttle on race morning that went around to the hotels to pick up the runners. But these complaints are minor. |
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