This is a great marathon experience. The hills will slow down people who have not trained on hills, but they are many and rolling rather than steep, so they're very manageable. (And don't forget the sweet downhills.) Fans stayed enthusiastic in the rain. Great organizers; I loved the shirts. I also love the people in St. Louis. Highly recommended for first-timer or anyone who would love to run an interesting course - you get city and neighborhood highlights, and a gorgeous park.

Easily the best-organized of the three I've done so far, and the fans were great (especially along Delmar) despite the poor weather for the day. The hills are long and gradual and keep coming at you in waves; you have to do a lot of hill training to be successful in this race. And a great medal for your result. Only suggestion: more running in the park - nice, serene, beautiful. Thanks, St. Louis.

This is the 4th time that I have run the St. Louis Marathon, and I really liked the slight course change due to highway construction. I really enjoyed seeing the Clydesdale as we ran through the AB complex. Since 1/2 marathoners outnumbered us full marathoners about 5:1, it was rather crowded for much of the first half, especially for a 5 plus-hour runner/walker. The first 2 water stations were struggling to get drinks to us as we came by. Info said, I think, that there would be two or three GU handout areas and I only saw 1, though a large number of containers on the ground as I ran through one area led me to believe there was one there for the faster people. Overall, though, I will definitely do it again.

Bad weather, great race. Very well organized. I have done marathons in the past where the overwhelming majority of people have been running the half, and I have promised to avoid them. When I signed up for St. Louis, I was apprehensive. I must say that the organization was fantastic. The start was smooth and I was able to easily keep my desired pace. When the course again merged with the half, there was a clear dividing line separating the marathon from the half, and there was no need to weave in and out of people. The course itself had more hills then I was expecting, but was by no means was it a "hilly" course, as the hills are gradual and even. Good support with plenty of aid stations. I would highly recommend this race, as it offers the feel of a big-city marathon without the logistical hassles (there is plenty of parking and easy access to affordable hotels very near the start). Great job, GO! Saint Louis.

As a hometowner, I had volunteered but never run this race. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the course took me on a nice tour of St. Louis (Arch, Anheuser-Busch, SLU, Forest Park, Wash U., Clayton, U-City Loop, and back home). It was prettier than I expected despite the constant rain.

Course: The first 13 miles were mostly flat, with some minor hills; miles 13 - 18 were rolling hills that provided a challenge for all the runners; 19 - 26 returned to mostly flat with some minor hills.

Pros: Lots of volunteers, well-stocked aid stations, an interesting and varied course, and great pace group leaders.

Cons: The marathon is way too crowded during the first 6 miles (they need to implement a wave start).

The most surprising aspect of the race was the reasonably large number of spectators along the course despite the rainy weather. Of course, this isn't Boston or New York, but lots of people came out to support the race on a very wet morning.

I plan to return to run the race in 2010.

On the whole, this is a solid race... a good tour of St. Louis from downtown, to the brewery, to Forest Park, to Clayton, and back. The course is scenic, but hilly... not exactly a PR course, but I knew that going in.

I also cannot say enough about the volunteers and spectators, who were friendly and enthusiastic on a day when the weather was pretty crappy to be standing around outside for hours on end.

Unlike some reviewers here, I rarely have much to gripe about after a race, but I had one big one for this race: on a day when it was in the 50s with a steady rain that left everyone drenched to the bone, they were out of foil blankets by the time I got to the finish. And I was a top-50 finisher in the marathon!! I managed to scrounge one off the ground that was covered in mud and empty Gatorade cups, but I can only imagine what the other 1500 people behind me did.

Despite that, I would probably do this one again if I was looking for a scenic, friendly race to run. With 10,000 runners, the half-marathon seemed like a bit of a cattle call, but the marathon was small enough to be enjoyable yet big enough to have large-race logistics and support.

I've run marathons all over the country and this was my 11th. It rained for most of this race, but I still really enjoyed this marathon. Other than miles 22 - 25, I loved the course as it went through many pretty areas and hit all of the highlights of St. Louis. There were lots of hills, but they were all very gradual. I was also very impressed with spectator support, despite the fact that it rained all morning. I would certainly run this marathon again.

Congrats to the RD for pulling off an excellent event under trying conditions. Nothing she could do about the rain, but everything ran without a hitch (well, they ran out of Mylar blankets and apparently GU at the last stop, but minor details, especially considering how many GU handouts there were - and how many halfers and relayers had already come in shivering in the rain).

PROS:

Good, urban course that showed off the highlights of the city; start and finish area wonderful; Forest Park - wow, I wish we had something like that where I live; pretty neighborhoods near Washington U; nice, undulating hills; great volunteers to come out in the rain; plenty of fluids and stations, good crowds considering the weather; good pace groups (thanks, Rich, with the 3:30); nearby hotels with great prices (stay at the OMNI); and restaurants downtown (Charlie Gitto's, etc.). This was my 3rd in 11 weeks, and all were excellent (Mardi Gras and Little Rock).

I signed up for this race because I'm trying to check off the 50 states (this was state #43) and the Lewis & Clark Marathon last fall got cut short because of Hurricane Ike. Does it rain all the time in Missouri?! At least this wasn't a hurricane, and they let us finish the race, but it was pretty much a steady drizzle or solid rain the whole time!

Anyway, since the race director can't do anything about the weather, I do appreciate the fact that the race started on time, the volunteers all came out in those conditions to support us, and all of the runner tracking and clocks worked. I like the long-sleeved tech shirt, and the finisher's medal is nice.

I was prepared for the hills from about mile 13 to 16 (killers!), but not for those near the end. In my mind's eye, I was thinking that once I got over mile 16 it was all downhill from there - NOT! Just set yourself up psychologically for some hilly challenges in the last few miles.

Now, they have GOT to find a way to offer the post-race food without having us track through mud and standing water after running 26.2 miles in those conditions. There was the same problem at Lewis and Clark. There were sidewalks around, but the barriers forced you to walk through the mud instead. Isn't there some way for the race director to make use of the sidewalks rather than positioning everything in the mud?

Next, the awards were to be given out at 11:15. I finished a little before 11, but had to rush back to my hotel to clean up since they said they couldn't give me late checkout (Hampton Inn). I was back at the awards table by 12:15 and everything was packed up... no awards, no results, and the volunteers couldn't tell me anything. I went to the information booth and they didn't have the results either. They said they would mail me an award if I earned one. I did get 3rd in my age group (yippee!), but shouldn't that info have been available at 12:15 somewhere?

Finally, the metro link is a great idea, and I had planned that as my transportation to and from the airport. Well, apparently the metro was "down" for one stretch, which means you rode the metro for a while, then you got off and took a bus to the next three stops, then you got back on the metro to get downtown (repeat in reverse order on the way back to the airport). If that weren't disruptive enough, it is IMPOSSIBLE to find the metro stations using maps or the website info. I thought I had it all figured out, but it's like they intentionally hide them! All I can say is that if you're going to use the metro link, ask lots of questions and kind people might point you to the little "hidden locations" for them.

But, not to be overly critical, I did run an excellent time (for me), and frankly the rain was cooling. Apparently it made for fast times for others too, since several course records were broken.

This was my first half-marathon. I have always wanted to run a marathon. I am still recovering from a stroke at the age of 39, but God has given me a second chance at life. I started off at the 12-minute pace marker, but the more I ran, the more I started to notice that I was passing people without trying. I made it to the 9:55 (2:10) pace marker and decided that I just needed to finish and not walk this course. Betty was the one who kept my mind focused, with great tips on how to run and what to think about. She kept the group focused and we both finished side by side. The military always trains us to have a battle buddy; she told us to get a buddy and run the last 2 to 3 miles together as a team, and that is what we all did. Thanks, Betty, for your support. Betty knew nothing of my stroke until the end of the course when we was taking a picture together as a buddy team. Betty, you are never too old; remember that, please!