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Apr 28, 2024

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 11 to 21]

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S. K. from Southern Indiana (4/9/2018) "Nice, scenic race" (about: 2018) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I did the 'Doubler,' where on Saturday one runs the 5K in Forest Park, then the marathon on Sunday. The marathon starts and ends along the Mississippi riverfront by the Arch. Doing the Doubler entitles one to an extra set of bling and a zip-up hoodie. The only downer to it all was finding the tent to pick up the medal for doubling. It was located far away from the finish area out of sight in the opposite direction from the finish. I enjoyed the course, which has some short rolling hills and occasional long stretches of low-grade inclines. One piece of advise. Be careful if you chose to stay at The City Place Hotel. It is very close to the start/finish area and the price is low comparatively for downtown hotels. The hotel is slightly rundown and in need of renovation, but comfortable. However, checkout time is 11 AM, and they were not allowing any of us a late checkout!
D. D. from St Louis, MO (4/14/2017) "I liked it!" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 6+ GO! St. Louis Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 I liked the course a lot. But I live here, so please excuse the bias. :) Sure, there were were a fair amount of industrial areas, but those were just gateways to some of our great neighborhoods.Volunteers were great, as always. Fan support is about what to expect from a midsized marathon. We're not NY or Chicago, so you shouldn't expect that level of crowd support. This year's finish line may have been the best ever with the Arch on the right and the Mississippi River on the left.
T. R. from Iowa (4/13/2017) "Good race on balance" (about: 2017) 2 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This is my third full and the other two were small-town races with <200 marathon finishers, so I can't compare this race to the really big ones like Chicago. That being said, on the whole I liked the race. The weather was not ideal but not quite as bad as others are mentioning (the temp was 59 at the start and 67 at the 3 hour point, and overcast for most of that time. Not ideal, but not brutal either). The course is rolling in places but nothing I would call a substantial climb. Parts of the course are through not-very-scenic industrial areas, but you also start on Laclede's Landing, go over the river twice, past Busch Stadium, Soulard Market and the AB Brewery and through Tower Grove and Forest Park. I think it is a pleasant variety of scenery. The course was not too crowded at least coming out of the first corral, and even though the large majority of runners were doing the half, there were still plenty of full runners so that you never felt alone. Logistics were decent - the expo and packet pickup were smooth, race-day logistics seemed to flow well, and there were plenty of aid stations. Volunteers were a highlight - very enthusiastic. There were one or two spots where the course marking could have been clearer, but basically a well-marked course. The finish area was somewhat disorganized, and it wasn't clear where results/awards were being done (turned out to be at the post-race party area, which was a bit removed from the finish line). I would have liked there to be soda in the finish area, as that is what I most crave after a race of that length. In some ways, the race encapsulates St. Louis as a town - a sort of small entity with bigger visions of itself, marked by earnestness and hospitality. It probably doesn't run as smoothly as some of the races that are at this point well-oiled machines, but it is charming and fun. I'd run it again.
G. F. from Houston, TX (4/12/2017) "Not bad, not great" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Loved that it started and finished near the Arch. However a psychological killer when your gassed at mile 21 and the arch looks pocket sized off in the distance. Weather sucked as temps skipped thru 60's and into high 70's and sun burned off cloud cover. Organizers held race start to check course but, in my opinion did nothing to address climbing temps....like add additional water stops. I finished race with a mt dew purchased on course at BP, and a sunburned forehead. Loved the fact that Busch stadium was close and Cards had a home stand. Overall a good race but nothing mind blowing.
P. B. from Ohio (4/12/2017) "Ok Marathon, nothing more" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I have run over 50 marathons. I was doing this one with friends. The weather was definitely challenging, but obviously there was nothing that could be done about that. The expo was fine for a small race. The volunteers were great. The organization was great. The course was hilly and for the most part boring with minimal spectators. The over and back on the bridges was wasted miles with no good reason to include. The downtown part was ok, the run by the Ballpark and through AB Brewery were the highlights. Really, after that, the course was dismal. Too much industrial areas and continual rolling hills. The finish line was good, the food at the end was good-custard ice cream sandwiches were fantastic. Overall nothing remarkable about this race, it was not worth traveling to St. Louis to complete. There has to be better areas of St. Louis to include in the course!
B. N. from Rockville, MD USA (4/11/2017) "Big Al's comments on SLM" (about: 2017) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Overall, a very well organized race with plenty of friendly volunteers handing out plenty of drinks and gel. I didn't see any bananas or orange slices, but the Gatorade and gel made up for it. The first half of the race is fairly flat, but the second half has plenty of long and gradual hills. Nothing that would make you run out of breath, but they're just loooong and frequent. The number of spectators was not too impressive, but better that some other races. This year, the weather sadly did not cooperate too much and it got really hot about 3 or so hours into the race. Temps were in the high 70s - low 80s, which made it even more challenging. However, overall, I highly recommend this race.
t. j. from Iowa (4/10/2017) "Finishing at the Arch is classic St Louis" (about: 2017) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 This race crosses the Mississippi twice (after a short loop in East St Louis, IL), runs you past Busch Stadium, lets you see the Clydesdales at the Budweiser Brewery, and runs you through two large city parks before finishing right at the base of the Arch. The organizers have apparently worked to make the course less hilly, but it is still far from flat. None of the hills are steep, but several are long enough to feel the next day. You share the first nine miles with the more-numerous half-marathoners, but it was never crowded because many of the asphalt streets you run on are two or three lanes wide and you don't share the road with cars. Gatorade stations were plentiful, the volunteers were nothing short of excellent, and the finish line food was abundant and diverse. Be warned that port-a-potties were in short supply during the first half of the race (I saw seven people waiting in line to use some at about mile 5), but that improved in the last half. Crowd support is thin throughout the race, but the volunteers at the frequent water stops quickly become your friends - calling out your name printed on your race bib. Parking in the ramps a few blocks west of the Arch was easier than anticipated ($5 for Sunday parking).
G. W. from Belleville, IL (4/10/2017) "Small race, some fans, frustrating course" (about: 2017) 2 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 First time running this race in 2017. The day was over 70º by 8:30AM and had 10-15 mph winds throughout, I've tried to not let the poor conditions influence my comments, and I did set a PR by 8 minutes. The registration was fine. Packet pickup was painless, expo was the smallest I have ever seen in about 20 big races. I used the MetroLink train and didn't have to worry about parking - the train stop was about a 3 minute walk to the start line. Porta-potties were randomly located, but the lines weren't terrible. Race start was delayed for unknown reason by ~5 minutes. Initial 10 miles were good, a few hills here and there. Miles 10-23 (about 1/2 marathon separation) were very hilly and not especially scenic with lots of 4 lane road running. At mile 25.75 there was a steep downhill for about 200 feet that was impossible to run down at that point. Crowds were best from miles 4-10, then sparse after that. Gel stations were oddly spaced and I did not prefer the brand they used (especially the banana) nor the pre-opening of said gel done for me as I usually put them in my pocket until I want to eat it (made a sticky mess). Finish line treats were very poor. A fruit cup, bottle of water, frozen custard sandwich, toasted ravioli, and some graham cracker thing did not hit the spot for run recovery. I would have preferred additional fluids, fresh fruit, and pretzels/simple carbs. Post-race party had a very nice band and a few places to grab a drink. Overall, I would recommend the half-marathon portion of this race, but not the marathon. The sparse crowds, small field (1,100 finishers in '17), and challenging course make for a frustrating race.
T. L. from Minneapolis, USA (4/12/2016) "Not Bad But Not Great" (about: 2016) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Since I have family in St. Louis and I was going to be there on marathon weekend anyway, I chose this as my spring marathon for 2016. It wasn't a goal marathon for me and I didn't expect great things of it, but I was still hoping to be more impressed than I was. The most important thing about a marathon is the course. The course was the right length, was properly marked, and wasn't too confusing. It's surprisingly hilly though - about 200 feet more uphill than Boston and nearly as much downhill, according to my tracks of each. Unlike Boston, the hills are continuous, from start to finish, so they sneak up on you. I normally don't mind hills - I signed up for this looking forward to the challenge - but with a recently-pulled calf muscle the hills were harder for me than normal, so I noticed them more. The first half of the course is okay - the bridges across the river are interesting, and the stretch down past Soulard Market to the A-B brewery and back is fun and energetic. East St. Louis is pretty ugly but it's just a short segment between the bridges. The worst part of the course is the long, boring slog out from downtown to Forest Park and back. On this dull and frustrating part of the course, many of the minor hills are completely unnecessary - they're the result of running on a quasi-highway, which dips down under the street grid for each major cross street to pass overhead on a bridge, then rises back right after. The course would be dramatically improved if they could find another way to get runners from downtown to Forest Park and back; heck, I'd give up Forest Park altogether and just do the first half twice if it was the only way to get rid of the long highway-like slog on Forest Park Ave and Market Street. A real bright spot for this race is the volunteers, who were cheerful, friendly, often called my name (it was on the bib), called out what they had at aid stations, and really provided a nice boost of energy everywhere they were, especially through the difficult parts of Forest Park. The aid stations were well organized, with just about all of them having Gatorade first and water second (my preferred arrangement as it allows me to wash out my mouth after the Gatorade). In the second half the aid stations were quite short however, so one had to be alert to be sure to get one's preferred drink. The finish line volunteers were very friendly and supportive; I was given my medal by a very cheerful woman who called me out by name as I finished. For me a crucial assist was from the massage tent, where before the race a helpful physical therapist kinesiotaped my left calf to help stabilize it since I was running this one with a pulled calf muscle. I thanked him at the end of the race for his help; he and his crew were working hard all day so I appreciated his efforts. The non-volunteer spectators who were out were energetic but there were very few of them, especially in the second half. Too many marathons suffer from a large half that leaves the marathoners feeling lonely and stranded in the second half, and this was definitely the case in St. Louis. Other details: the expo was about on par for a 1300-person marathon, and was pretty quick and easy to get to. It's not right by the starting line though, so out-of-town runners will need to make a bit of effort to get to and from it. The post-race amenities were pretty good for a smaller race - all the usual snacks and water, plus a couple toasted ravioli (a local favorite) and some free 'beer' (Michelob Ultra). I finished as the last half-marathoners were straggling in and it didn't look to me like anything was in short supply, though social media indicates that some of the post-race amenities were shut down when a rain storm hit about an hour after I finished. All in all, it was a fine marathon but I would have been disappointed if I'd set this up as a goal marathon and I was traveling just for it. Many elements of it reminded me of the Detroit Free Press Marathon, but on every one of those comparisons the Detroit race was better. If you're in St. Louis anyway or just want the challenge of a hilly race that's in the midwest, you'll enjoy it enough, but this event has a lot of things that prevent it from being great.
M. N. from California (4/11/2016) "2016 run - mixed" (about: 2016) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great organization for a pretty large race. Hotels close by to start. Course is a mixed bag. The initial 6-7 miles are on a patch work of pothole filled streets. The stretch to the Bud brewery is a good change in scenery. Mile 17-22 are in a park and give a blend of lake and greenery views. The finish is in downtown. Cons: The hills (even though small) were not planned well. Why do a hill on Mile 25? (Seriously). Even though the course seems flat for a mid west town, there are several up hills and downhills. Additionally there was a thunderstorm that started 4 hours into the race. Not sure the organizers had clear instruction to the volunteers on what to do. Some asked us to stop, others turned a blind eye. Something to improve. However if you are interested in a reasonably sized, well organized race, this is a good one to run. Ticket prices into St. Louis are reasonable. It's easy to get to downtown on the Metro ($2.50) form the airport.

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