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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 231 to 241]
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Erik Bush from Chicago
(9/6/2005)
"Fun" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I finished second, overall. I loved it. If I could change anything, I'd like to find eight seconds somewhere out there on the course, I could have used them :) Seriously, it's a marathon, it's supposed to be hard. Nothing the organizers could have done would change that, except run it for me! Cheers - Erik | |
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J. C. from Minneapolis, MN
(8/30/2005)
"I don't get the complaints - I liked it!" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I don't understand all the complaints. Yes, the beginning was a bit clogged, and the early water stops hard to get to, but I didn't think it was so bad. My only criticism is that the mile markers were on the ground and frequently obscured by spectators and other runners. But - there was so much to love about this marathon! The logo is very cool, so the medals and shirts were awesome. Yes, the hills were challenging, and the heat was tough, but the spectators and volunteers were great, and the sights were fantastic. I loved that we ran through the city, parks, neighborhoods, etc. - the changing scenery gives you the sense that you're going somewhere. The New Balance pace teams were there, and that proved helpful to me when I started struggling midway through. There is a big, nasty hill at the very end of the race, but as I came over it I was rewarded with the most breathtaking view of the skyline, framed by the arch. It was my slowest time in years, but I had fun. I also finished 5th in my age group, which ordinarily doesn't mean anything; I was surprised to receive a beautiful plaque in the mail a week later. Nice touch. | |
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T. M. from Belleville, IL
(6/24/2005)
"Good challenge, but don't expect a PR" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 3 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I've waited 3 months to add my comments because I was so down after finishing this race. I love the St. Louis course and I didn't notice the organizational problems in the first few miles. I always carry my own water bottle through the early going in marathons just to avoid the crowded water tables. The heat wiped me out this time. If they continue to hold the race in April there is always the risk of high temps. My previous 2 St. Louis Marathons were held in cooler months: October, and March, when it was sleeting at the start. Finally: It is an economical race; I was able to get a 4 star hotel within a few blocks of the start/finish for $60.00 on Priceline. | |
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M. S. from Pennington, New Jersey
(6/9/2005)
"We Must Have Missed Something.... We Loved It!!!" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Perhaps it was that for as long as I've been a distance runner I've dreamed of returning to my home town to run the local marathon (in this case, the St. Louis Marathon). Or, perhaps that we (my boyfriend and I) are now crabby people from the East Coast, and the Midwest hospitality broke us down into actually smiling (see our race photos), but we thought everything was great. We have no complaints. Well, we do have one.... We couldn't get tickets to the Philly's game (he's a diehard Philly's fan from Philadelphia, I am a diehard Cardinals fan now living in New Jersey). But that was it. We loved everything else. We traveled to St. Louis from New Jersey & Philadelphia to run the marathon - together - in my home town. He's a much better (read: faster) distance runner than I am, but we decided to run this marathon together. We both loved it. Perhaps we didn't notice as many of the 'things to improve' that so many of you mention because we were chatting the whole way, but we've both run marathons in the past, him about 15, me, one previous, and we didn't notice the crowded water stops in the first few miles, or the boring (??) course (we had to read about those things in these posts because we didn't notice them). What we did notice was the wonderful, supportive crowd - especially in the U-City neighborhoods; the woman on the course handing out Jolly Ranchers, the house with the 'wall of Vaseline' for us chafing runners; the inspiring, and motivational artwork as mile markers (we found ourselves chatting about this for nearly the entire mile until we got to the next one); the green carpet at Saint Louis University, which was fun when we hit it at mile 6, but was salvation when we hit it again at mile 20. We noticed the heat and hills, and that was only because as a result of those things, we found runners quickly abandoned their pace groups and 'goal times' and simply set a goal of 'to finish' (us, too) and were willing to chat while we ran; we loved the entertainment - the bands, the folk group, the violins, the kids, the drum band, such variety!; the volunteers were just great, especially the folks at the last water stop - our running club back home, the Bucks County Road Runners, cheered when we shared what those volunteers did (let it be said, you volunteers at the last water stop were the icing on the cake of the whole marathon) - the laugh was better than the water (and because it was so hot that day, our goal to finish was secondary to our goal of running to the next water stop). Kudos (and a hearty thank you) to you! We loved the finisher medal, and the t-shirts (we actually wear them!). The logo and the arch on the medal were such nice touches; I gave mine to my parents who not only cheered us on (and we needed it), but other runners, too (who needed it, too). We think they deserve a medal for being out there on a hot day. We honestly have no complaints. I guess together my boyfriend and I have been around the running scene for so long and have run many distance races that we know not everything goes right on race day. Heck, I had calf (both legs) and quad (both legs) cramps that struck at mile 2 and never went away (they're gone now). But, all that aside, we really loved it. Actually, we give you lots of credit for finding, and incorporating into the course hills. Because after all, isn't St. Louis in the flat Midwest? No doubt it's tough to train for a spring marathon (especially in the parts of the world that experience winter), but we're thrilled we did train through the winter, and had the chance to run the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon. We had fun, and most of the fun was with the crowd, the volunteers, and the other runners - we've never run a marathon with such friendly runners that despite one of our slowest finishing times (mostly because we stopped and chatted with the crowds and other runners) we'll never forget our experience that we consider very positive. Thanks St. Louis! | |
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S. P. from St. Louis, MO
(6/8/2005)
"Hilly course with horrible organization" (about: 2005)
2 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 3 I only ran the 1/2 marathon and am glad that I did not go the whole way. The course was very hilly (long rolling hills) and poorly organized. From about mile 5 through 8 the course routes you down one side of a road on the way out and back on the other side of the road, or at least it was supposed to. The event staff missed this because the faster runners on the 1/2 marathon were literally running in the opposite direction of the slower runners and shoulder-to-shoulder with the slower runners at this point. The trouble was compounded by the fact that the aid station at about mile 7 was only on 1 side of the road and nobody had cleaned any cups off of the road. Despite all of this, I still ran a personal best and would do this race again, but only because I live in St. Louis. | |
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Art Walker from Portland, OR
(5/15/2005)
"Fine Race, Hot Weather, Overwhelmed Water Stops" (about: 2005)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 Loved the scenic, very interesting route. Slower runners (like me) experienced some heat. Marathoners and half-marathoners ran the first 11 miles together. When they hit the first four water stops together, sheer disaster ensued. The poor volunteers could not keep up with demand, the runners had to rudely cut in front of each other to get close, and the street was hopelessly littered with slippery plastic cups underfoot. A staggered start would remedy the difficulty. Good luck next year! | |
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J. S. from Missouri
(5/13/2005)
"Great new course, terribly unorganized!" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 2 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 4 This is my second year running the half marathon and I loved this year's course. I thought it was easier than 2004, more scenic, and I enjoyed the brewery. However, the organization was bad starting with the expo to the finish. I felt worse for the leaders of the half. They were racing through a wave of slower people and fighting to get people to move over on their return. I really imagine it was hard to run and yell at people. There should have been more direction from volunteers along the course on where to run. There has already been much said about the water stops but it should be noted again. It seemed they had a lot more runners than they planned for so maybe next year it will be better unless everyone is too mad to come back. | |
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J. M. from St. Louis, MO
(5/6/2005)
"A smaller marathon with all benefits of a big race" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I have run big and small marathons and was surprised to find the experience included all the best aspects of the bigger marathons. The finish line party was first class, with outstanding entertainment, free beer and plentiful food. The entertainment along the course was fun and different than typical races - the highlight was the group of 80 or so violinists in Forest Park. What a thrill! And the kids playing and dancing to African music in the U City Loop was invigorating. A race like Chicago and San Diego has so many people that you spend a lot of energy dodging them towards the end - not at this race. It is the perfect mix of large scale fun with the smaller number of people so that you do not feel like a cow in a herd. | |
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J. W. from Racine WI
(5/6/2005)
"Needs work" (about: 2005)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Seven of us traveled from Wisconsin. We were warned about -- but not prepared for -- the hills and the heat was a surprise. The previous comments regarding the poor organization of the water stops need not be repeated, but were accurate. Perhaps starting the half marathon runner earlier or later would reduce the congestion at the early water stops. The weather was hot, so water was very important. As a back-of-the-pack runner I need all the help I can get - and there was not much. There were no water stops with food of GEL pack, which is the usual practice for the later water stops. I expected something more than hard candy at two stops. The volunteers were universally friendly. Much of the course was very pleasant although I could have missed the Bud Brewery part. Overall this race needs some work to improve. | |
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m. f. from St. Louis, Missouri
(5/6/2005)
"First half marathon experience and a great one" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This was my first half-marathon and it was a great experience. I thought the miles were clearly distinguished as the markers were next to 6-8' tall artistic structures that couldn't be missed. I was advised to hook up with a pace team, which made for a great collegial experience and a consistent pace -- the first 7 miles flew by. I was prepared for the hills, and also decided to run with some water when I realized the day would be hot. My daughter ran the Read, Write, Run race the day before, which was much better organized than in 2004. All in all, a great weekend experience -- my family will definitely participate in these events next year. |
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