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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Ran the Half in 2010 due to injury and loved it. Decided to go back for the full in 2011 and was not as impressed. This is a half with a full tacked on. Support is great on the city part of the course and very sparse on the marathon-only portion, where the course is unimaginative. Constantly running on uphills and downhills (sometimes, it seemed, for no reason).

Because the half is so large, the organization is pretty good. Water stops were great. GU was available in three places on the course in useful locations. Finish was smooth. Could have more useful post-race food instead of bananas and sponsored snacks. Expo is simple, but decent. T-shirt in 2010 was fantastic. The 2011 shirt was fine, but an odd fit. Medals are solid. Website could be a bunch better.

Weather and wind were brutal this year. I thought the organizers handled it well as they could.

All in all, this is a solid marathon if you are in the area, but I wouldn't make a special trip to St. Louis for it. Because of the hills, if you are on the borderline, this race is not good for a BQ under any circumstances. (Everyone with my pace team guy failed to finish with him.)

I've now experienced the worst marathon of the 14 I've done so far. I understand that the weather is beyond the control of the race organizers; there was no way to avoid the 85 degree heat. Having said that, a forecast is available at least a week before the race and you can make adjustments. The water stations were completely unprepared for the obvious need for extra water and Gatorade for the race participants. Many tables were completely empty of anything to drink at all. My frustration was compounded by the unannounced cancelation of the marathon for any runners who had not made it to mile 9 by around 2 hours from the gun start of the race. I first learned of the cancelation as I approached the finish line of the half marathon, wondering where I had missed the split for the marathoners. I was directed to the race director by a volunteer I had stopped to talk to before I crossed the finish line for the half. I was worried I would blow my chance to finish the race. When the director informed me they had canceled the marathon, I was shocked, extremely confused, and disappointed. I'm trying to run 50 states, so I won't be back in the future. Regardless of my experience, don't believe anyone who says this course is flat. It is brutal!

This one edged out the Okinawa Marathon for toughest heat and hills. I paid attention to the forecast, drank lots of fluids, and walked the larger hills - not a day for a PR (and 27 minutes slower than my last race 4 months earlier).

Pros: very good scenery; great support through Soulard, Clayton and University City; huge number of volunteers; and lots of water/Gatorade.

Cons: those long, steady climbs in 80-plus degree sunshine; most of the route is unshaded; we could use a few more miles under those 100-year-old trees by the university and a few less through the bleak post-industrial neighborhoods; the expo at Chaifetz was a zoo - I hope they'll find a bigger (and more metro accessible) spot next year; and for such a big city, there is kind of a thin spectator turnout in St. Louis itself - the race goes through so many places where no one lives (downtown, a large park, industrial areas).

Not sure I'd do it again. Not the race for your PR (even if the weather were better, there are too many hills).

This was my 9th marathon and my husband's 13th. We trained throughout the winter in Minnesota, which was our primary excuse for falling apart in the nearly 90-degree heat - you can't blame the race, and can't control the weather, but unfortunately both of us posted our worst race times ever. The course was hillier than expected (no elevation map was provided on the website, which also wasn't that user-friendly of a site). It did go through some very nice areas of St. Louis and I was surprised to find the city very clean and appealing. However, there was no water at the start for runners (got yelled at for trying to take one from the finish area). They did not hand out gear-check bags at the expo, so you had to bring your own bag and then transfer your stuff to the gear bag, which was supposed to open at 5:30, but didn't open until 6 a.m. I understand trying to be green by saving the bags (since not everyone uses them), but couldn't you still pass them out at the expo?

They ran out of beer at the finish, long before the marathoners were all done (and the band stopped playing - everything was catered to the 1/2'ers). The food at the finish area was lackluster (a banana, a bag of chips, and perhaps a granola bar). I think that they should have the 1/2 marathoners start after the full marathoners to eliminate the huge crowds/cluster at the start. If the full had started at 6 a.m., we would have somewhat beat the heat. Also, the race didn't start on time (close to 15 minutes late).

Positives? Plenty of porta-potties at the start. Quality toilet paper, apparently. Great tracking system for at-home supporters. Plenty of hotels close to the start (and finish as it is sort of an-out-and-back). A spectator handed out frozen ice pops - YUM, and some orange slices. Thank you to that person! Oh, and the last 0.2 miles includes another hill... after running the last 6 on an unshaded interstate.

Despite the heat (which is unpredictable), the organization of the water stops (regardless of "water sources") was too irregular. I wore my fuel belt and still found it hard to plan hydration points due to the water stops and GU being so uncertain (no GU at mile 14 - more like 15).
The expo was tiny compared to most, and most items were gone by Saturday. You pay $5 parking for 30 minutes of not much. There's no description for the map, which would be quite helpful (road labels in Forest Park, please?).

I did well for this marathon (4:26), considering the elements; but I found it lacked predictability in planning water stops and the finish line area was set up for half-marathoners - good for large groups finishing, but too long and far apart for low numbers of marathoners finishing. I could barely move, let alone navigate from this place to that place and walk so far to get out of the area. The finish line is deceptive with the hill going up to it - I'd rather run farther one more street than end on an uphill.

I was hydrated well with my fuel belt and did the best I could with water stops and still ended up in an ER at the end of the day with severe dehydration.

Good point: very good hotels around the start/finish area.