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Apr 29, 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 41 to 51]

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B. M. from Amherst, MA (4/7/2013) "Tough course with great support." (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Don't let anyone tell you this is an easy course. There were a lot of hills, it was hot, and several miles were on concrete. The crowd was great until the half marathoners split off. There was virtually no spectator support after that.
T. V. from St. Louis, MO (11/13/2012) "Race was well organized!" (about: 2012) 4-5 previous marathons \| 4-5 GO! St. Louis Marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'm proud to call this my hometown race!I think it continues to get better every year, from the large crowd support to the great event medal, I will continue to support this race. Really enjoyed the neighborhood cheering areas. Organizers do a good job at the things that matter most - providing a safe event, having a good start & finish area. I'll be back in 2013!
S. H. from Two Harbors, MN (5/9/2012) "Nice mid-sized no-frills urban marathon" (about: 2012) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 If you're looking for an early season urban marathon without a huge crowd and no-frills (which I like), this is a good one. Also has some decent climb challenges, but not killer. Good for early season hill training. If you're a flat lander who likes big crowds, lots of attention and are obsessed with your pace, then probably not a good one for you. There are a few boring sections, but would say that 80% has good scenery and fan support. Some neat old neighborhoods along the route. The middle sections through Forest Park are particularly nice and uncrowded. But hilly, which as a trail runner I liked. Everyone has their likes and dislikes. There are also a lot of things to see and do in St. Louis at a reasonable price. In particular check out the awesome zoo. There are also a lot of reasonable lodging places.
D. D. from Des Moines, IA (4/17/2012) "Hilly, Boring second half." (about: 2012) 1 previous marathon \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The course was hilly... not steep hilly just rolling long hills the entire course. After the split from 1/2 to full, there was much less entertainment and several sections became severely boring. The worst was miles 21-25 which became windy and ran on a section of road with a large concrete wall on the side, no entertainment and direct sun beating on you.
B. C. from TX (4/16/2012) "Overall i give C+" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I needed this race to get my 50 states this was my 36th marathon.
Barry Lowenthal from Maryland (4/16/2012) "Not A Great Race" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 OK, so this was marathon #14, 13 on roads. The weather is not the responsibility of the organizers, so I won't complain about the heat - just roll the dice (it was very cold earlier in the week). My complaint is that this is NOT really a marathon. It is a half marathon, where they tack on an additional 13.1 if you want to run a full. All runners start together, and the half is huge - approximately 15,000 runners...while there can't be more than a couple of thousand marathoners. The course is OK - really nice to run through Forest Park, Clayton, and University City. It is so cool to run toward the Arch for the last couple of miles. Unfortunately, a lot of the last few miles is on concrete, which is REALLY tough on the legs, especially late in the race. However, the reason that I'm complaining about the race - more than anything - bad food at the end of the race. All that was offered was a bag of chips, VERY green bananas, and granola bars. Come on folks, we've GOT to do better than that. Where was the pizza? Bagels? Cookies? Anything? So, I won't be going back to St. Louis again for this race....
P. K. from Ohio (4/16/2012) "Disappointing City Marathon" (about: 2012) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 EXPO Ran out of t-shirts in my size and ran out of bags (nothing to put my vendor items in). It may have been due to an inexperienced/unconcerned table volunteer, but one expects better. Had to get safety pins for my race bib back at the hotel! The usual good assortment of vendor booths, but very few freebies. Expo was held at Chaifetz Arena at St. Louis Univ., but race entrants still charged $5 to park in the garage - otherwise, you're on the street. No pre-race pasta dinner. RACE Pretty ugly course. A lot of it was downtown, and while St. Louis has a lot to offer, it doesn't have the most attractive urban landscape. Race start had a huge speaker blasting rock music, but it was too close and too loud, and a lot of us nearby had to plug our ears. The last 5-6 miles was a straight line into the city, with crappy pavement, as well as hills - just one long grind. Crowd support was tepid. The course ran through 2 colleges, but there was only one very small, very exuberant group of co-eds at SLU. Most colleges offer pretty good support, but not here. MEDICAL PERSONNEL WAS PATHETIC. I didn't see a medical tent till mile 15, and most of it was vaseline. On hot, humid days like this, medical staff is real important. Excellent traffic control. VOLUNTEERS Fantastic, as usual. They made an otherwise beastly race a lot better. Thank you!! FINISH AREA This was a redemption of sorts. Big, open-spaced finish area (unlike a lot of races, where runners are sent down crowded chutes). Lots of goodies, including free beer, and a massage tent. HUGE finisher's medal. I hate to be negative, but except for the friendly volunteers and finish area, this was one of the least enjoyable city marathons I've run.
E. T. from Chicago, IL (11/29/2011) "Hot and hilly, but still enjoyable" (about: 2011) 3 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This race was brutally hot and they did stop the race for some runners, who then had to run the half. There was not a cloud in the sky and there is very little shade on the course, so the last 10K was very difficult. The course has some hills, which may have been OK without the heat, but the combination of heat and hills was rough. That being said, there was plenty of water and lots of volunteers. The course was generally enjoyable: the brewery, the park and a few of the neighborhoods are nice, but a lot of the course is just concrete. There are a lot of areas where spectators are limited, but where there are spectators they are very enthusiastic. My only organizational complaint is the shuttle system to and from the expo: after waiting for a bus (large van) which was mobbed by the people waiting for it (envision 200 people trying to crowd into the last life raft on the Titanic) I jumped into a cab with a few other runners. Overall, a fun race despite the heat.
L. R. from Florida (5/3/2011) "HILLY BUT GREAT COURSE" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'm from Florida so I knew going into this marathon it would be hilly. But combine that with the heat, humidity, and wind, and it turned into a brutal day. I was able to complete the course but it was my 2nd worse finish. Only Colorado where I couldn't breathe was worse. I support the race director shutting down the course. I saw all the people dropping like flies out there. Only because I'm from the land of heat and humidity was I able to finish by mostly walking the last 6.2 miles. The aid stations were awesome. They did everything they could to help us stay cool and hydrated! My only complaint was the finish line, which was taken down as I approached (5:46) and the ammenities. There was no beer and there was no band as promised. There were only a few people left to provide support and all they had was bananas, water, and Gatorade. The race director can not control the weather. The finish line and after party he can and it was very disappointing after the long hard race. I would recommend the marathon for it's great hilly course, but not for the finish line ammenities. I stayed at the Marriott Residence Inn and it's a great location, midway between the expo and the start/finish, so you can walk to both.
K. B. from Raleigh area, NC (4/25/2011) "A nice, smallish marathon" (about: 2011) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Look at where folks are from as you read their comments. Those talking about the course being very hilly are all from the north. If you want to know what a hilly marathon is really like, sign up for the City of Oaks in Raleigh, NC. I personally think the marathon is a good one (it was my 17th; I've run Chicago, Richmond, Disney World, and City of Oaks, to name a few). It is smaller, so yes, spectator support will be lower. However, those who were out were great! And the volunteers were great! I think the very first water stop was a little crowded, but as the race went on, I had no problems getting through them. Plenty of porta-potties at the start and also along the course. I did not mind the hills nor the uphill at the end. I actually liked that I could see the finish line about a 1/2-mile out (I ran faster and prayed that we weren't going to make a turn away from it). And read the handbook they passed out at the expo. There is a paragraph in there about having to adjust or even cancel the race because of weather events. Yes, it is disappointing the race had to be adjusted when and how it was, but the paragraph says right there, the race officials reserve the right to make those types of decisions and you've agreed to that when you sign up for the race. All in all, I liked the race and would recommend it to others. P.S. I would agree that maybe they could start the half and full at different times. It was crowded running with 15,000 halfers during the first 9-10 miles of the race. P.P.S. And the race seemed spectator-friendly, as I was able to see my family at miles 1, 5, 10, 16, 19, 23, and the finish. I was not running that slowly either (except when the heat got to me and I sat down for a break between 20-21 miles).

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