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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 51 to 61]
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J. L. from Roseville, CA
(4/24/2011)
"VERY ANGRY - bad decision to end race" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I have never been more angry than I was when I reached mile 9 and was told I had to finish with the halfers. This race obviously caters to the half marathon. I spent money on airfare, hotel, and lots of other things to prepare to do the State of Missouri. We sign waivers for every marathon. I am a 5:15 marathoner and there were many past the time who finished the race. I was under 2 hours at the cut off but it took me 18 minutes to get to the start. I train in the heat, in California. It was not too hot for me. I didn't even go to the finish; for what? I just walked back to my hotel. It left a bad impression of the entire city and the entire trip. I will do Missouri, as I am trying to do all 50 states, but I WILL NOT go back to ST. LOUIS. I also emailed the event afterward explaining my frustration and of course got NO RESPONSE (yet, anyway). | |
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L. T. from Where the Streets Have No Name
(4/23/2011)
"WIND, HILLS, HEAT... AWESOME EVENT" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 My favorite venue thus far after 10 major events all over the country. I was a little concerned that St. Louis had recently been classified as the most dangerous city in America. I found it to be clean and friendly people. Great route of your city. You should be proud of a fantastic event. A must-do in my opinion. The weather and hills were a challenge indeed but the views of the city made it worth the effort. | |
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K. T. from Minnesota
(4/19/2011)
"Well, it was tough..." (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Some of these things go really well and others are more of a struggle! :-) The 2011 Go! was a struggle for me due to the high temps and humidity, but overall I think it is a good race. Pros: Travel - easy to get to STL and get around town on the Metrolink. We stayed at the Marriott and that was walking distance to the start/finish. Reusable bag was great - high quality. Course - really pretty, well marked, but it is hilly (not Waco hilly), so do your hill work and you will be fine. Easy to spectate - my husband and two little ones saw me at the start, 6, 13, 20 and the finish. Great volunteers! There were plenty of people at every aid station cheering and taking great care of us!!!!! Water stops - GREAT water stops every mile or two. Had hoses hooked up to the hydrants to spray us - really helped us stay cool. Cons: Expo shuttle - we had to wait 45 minutes to get the shuttle back to the hotel. It was free and I appreciate that, but we were out in the hot sun with our two little ones. Race shirt - does not say, "Finisher" on it. BEER!!! - how does Bud run out of beer IN St. Louis after we just ran through their place??? Music - when I finished, the music stage was being packed up. Silly. There were tons of people coming across the line, who had struggled on a hot, hot day all to be greeted by no beer and no music. Worst post-race I have been to in 22 marathons. The marathon isn't responsible for the heat, but for the most part they did a good job making sure aid stations were stocked and people were tended too. I have never seen so many people down; starting at mile 8 there was a guy getting an IV on the side of the road. There were people going down all over the place. I feel bad for the people who got turned back, but I felt worse for the people waiting for ambulances in the street. This was a good, well organized race with GREAT volunteers on a hilly course, but the post-race area needs a lot of improvement and the shirt should say, "Finisher" on it. | |
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D. S. from Michigan
(4/19/2011)
"Good course support but event could improve." (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 First of all, I was really dragging for the race - injury, heat and the hills - but I managed to stay ahead of the heat cut-off and finished the full. I can say that the course support (water/GU/medical) worked hard and there were adequate course provisions. Medical reaction was swift for the runners who went down due to the heat. Excellent volunteer support. For the race in general, I was a little disappointed. The "highlights" of the course - A-B Brewery, Forest Park, Washington University - were lifeless. It was some of the outlying neighborhood pockets that were the "life of the party" and carried the event. Elsewhere, nary a spectator, music or anyone (other than volunteers). Rather a letdown for a big city. Miles 20-24 covered a long stretch of boring, shadeless asphalt. I really think the course could have been more interesting. Finally, if we have to run around the silent Budweiser corporate offices (because they are a sponsor), I would expect a better post-race beer situation. | |
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E. G. from Naperville, IL
(4/18/2011)
"Great 1/2 Marathon! But I ran the Full..." (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I finished the full marathon, granted almost an hour slower than I normally would have. I am not going to debate the heat issues, all I know is it was 88 degrees when we got back to the hotel at about 1 o'clock. I feel I was prepared training wise because, I had a PRd a Half Marathon 2 weeks before. Of course that was on the Chicago Lake Front and it was about 25 degrees. When I finished everything was being taken down or already down. I didnt like being locked in that finish shoot and having to walk another 1/4 mile to get some water and a banana. As mentioned before the Michelob Stage was long gone. The course is really hilly, but in decent weather I would have enjoyed that challenge. I would like to compliment the volunteers that stayed out on the course! The young kids were still enthusiastic even nearing 5 hours and several volunteers were asking me if I was alright. Which tells you what I looked like? I will not run this race again. However, I would do a St.Louis Marathon held in the fall that is considered the main event. They should just make this the St.Louis 1/2 Marathon and perhaps have a 10k to go with it. I am proud to have been among the 1900 that finished! | |
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J. B. from Chicago, IL
(4/17/2011)
"Heat, Hills, and Wind!" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 2 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 This was the second time around for me (2006). I remembered that St. Louis was hilly, but sheesh, this was crazy. It was constant ups and downs throughout. I knew I was toast around 8 miles when my goal was just to survive the heat as I ran my 2nd slowest time ever. | |
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J. Y. from Orange County, CA
(4/14/2011)
"Well organized, but you can't organize the weather" (about: 2011)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I appreciate hearing the most about course specifics, so here you go: the course is much hillier than I expected. Nothing that's going to stop you in your tracks, but for the better part of the first 15-17 miles, I found it difficult to get into a comfortable tempo without a roller breaking things up. In my opinion, this course has a way of separating the wheat from the chaffe, and if you want a test of hill fitness, then I think this would be a well-suited course. Not much use in talking about weather; it's Midwest in early spring - expect anything from snow to heat. In 2011, it was hot and they cut the course short for BOP'ers forced on to the half-marathon course. Expo was well run, which for me meant quick in and out. They offered pace teams, which was a plus, and I felt they had appropriate water/GU/first aid coverage. I would run it again, but with very different expectations. | |
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G. S. from Midwest
(4/14/2011)
"How does St. Louis run out of beer?" (about: 2011)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 2 Incredibly hot, but that's not the fault of the organizers. Very little shade on the course, again - not much you're going to do about that. This race is heavily geared toward the half marathon, which is okay, too. Ample water and support on the course, which was good. Gear check, race start and flow of finish area were all good, but that's where the good news ends. After finishing, I waited for a friend of mine at the finish line. After he came in, we made our way over to the beer tent to get our 1 free beer (seems a little cheap, but it is what it is). By noon (the 5-hour mark of the race) they had run out of beer. Huh?!? We just ran past the Bud brewery, but they ran out of beer? Plus the stage/band/post-race party was already being taken down. Mediocre experience at best. Of the six marathons I've done (admittedly small sample size), this was the least enjoyable after party of them all. I'd say it's an okay race for the locals but is far from a good destination marathon. | |
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Mark A. from Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
(4/13/2011)
"An uphill finish" (about: 2011)
First Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon, and I have to tell you, it was brutal. The heat and the hills made this a very challenging event. I want to offer a special "thank you" to all of the volunteers who helped make this a great event. I especially liked the water stations being placed every mile after mile 14 or 15. The organization for the event was super, and I also appreciated all the help from local law enforcement agencies as they blocked off traffic for us. As I said, this was my first marathon, and was fully prepared for the distance, but not for the extreme hills that seemed to be everywhere. It was pretty tough to keep your head in the game for the last two miles as I noticed the finish line was UPHILL! As if running 26.2 miles wasn't tough enough, they actually had us finish on an incline. All the race fans with their signs were awesome, especially in one community where they stood outside in their PJ's and drank coffee while cheering us on. | |
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K. G. from Carbondale, Il
(4/13/2011)
"My 2nd marathon; great run despite the heat/hills" (about: 2011)
2 previous marathons
| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The course for this marathon was quite hilly. I talked to several runners before and after the race who had done marathons at Go STL before and they said this route was the worst one yet. I trained pretty hard, so I was ready for some inclines, but combined with the heat, it made for a hard run. I was happy to take 50 minutes OFF of my time from San Diego's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon last June. I really appreciated the extra water/Gatorade stations. The expo in STL, compared to the Rock 'n' Roll expo, was a bit disappointing. There weren't as many vendors as I remember when I ran the half marathon in STL in 2008. |
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