Review
This was the 25th anniversary of this race, so I had to sign up!
Plus this was my first time pacing a marathon, so I was extremely nervous about burning out and hitting the wall! Since I was a pacer, I got to run for free!
My initial plan to hit up both this expo and the OKC expo failed because of my flight delay from Chicago
I was supposed to land Thursday afternoon in St. Louis, get a rental car, head to the expo, and drive to OKC (7-ish hours). However, I landed Thursday night, picked up the rental car, and drove to OKC (I arrived around 2:00 am)
I ended up contacting someone on my pace team and she got my bib and packet for me! I had to drive back to St. Louis after picking up my stuff from OKC, and got back around 8:30 PM
We met near the start line at 6:00 to gather our signs and take the group photo
The prerace started at the Memorial Plaza, which included some granola bars and coffee!
The marathoners ran around Busch stadium, the Gateway Arch, Eads Bridge (run across the Mississippi Bridge into Illinois briefly), St. Louis Riverfront twice
We ran around Lafayette Park and 12th street with the half-marathoners
We ran around Jackson Place Park and down Locust Street for our last 10K
Spectators came out and cheered us on, and I didn't feel like there were dead spots!
The course was hilly, especially the last 10K
As a pacer, I purposely went fast on the downhill portions so that I can walk up the hills on the way back
The end of the race had beer, massages, and some food
There was a large massage area, but they got booked like crazy. Fortunately I went to a smaller massage area that wasn't crowded.
I had several runners thank me at the end of the race for keeping pace and being motivational
I wouldn't use this to BQ/PR because it's hilly!
Race Website: Go! St. Louis Marathon
Marathon
Marathon!
Pacing Pics and Finish Line