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GO! St. Louis Marathon Runner Comments

Back to GO! St. Louis Marathon Information & Reviews

Course Rating Course 3.9 
 
Oranization Rating Organization 3.9 
 
Spectator Rating Spectators 3.5 
 
 
Number of comments: 357 [displaying comments 281 to 291]
More Comments: [ < 1 .. 27 28 29 30 31 .. 36 > ]

 

Ronald Bucy from Bridgeport, West Virginia (4/11/2005)
"This marathon was a class act!" (about: 2005)

50+ previous marathons | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


The logistics of registration, pasta dinner, accommodations, and start/finish location is excellent.

Very note worthy was the pasta dinner. The warmth and hospitality of the volunteers was overwhelming. The food was excellent.

The Marriott was terrific especially the late check out. The St. Louis Police did an excellent job. The easy to the start/finish from the Marriott was great.

The course was a little hilly, a few glitches in the first 5 water stops, and perhaps some improvement on the T-shirt design would help, but hey, it was a wonderful marathon and visit to beautiful people and their city.
 

Terry Pescosolido from Columbus, OH (4/11/2005)
"hot, hilly race" (about: 2005)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 4


It was a long, hot race, with the end of race temperature near 80 and a blazing sun the whole way. Really wiped out a lot of runners. As others have said the course is pretty tough with its rolling hills. It was nice to run through the brewery, and through Forest Park.

I was surprised, since this race has been around for awhile, at a few significant blunders in the organization:

(1) Way too few restrooms at the beginning, and the restrooms were organized so that the lines stretched across the line up area right at the start line. Bizarre.

(2) Walkers started an hour before the runners, and there were a lot of them. The walkers completely clogged up a few of the first few water stops. That, and having dodge the walkers, made for quite a mess. Some traffic control is badly needed.

(3) Many of the water stops before the half-marathon/marathon split were way understaffed. And, due to the excessive heat, many more water stops were needed.

The spectators were great. The food and drink at the end were very good. The medal, large, but not terribly inspiring. Suggestion: put the arch on future medals.
 

K. H. from Chicago, IL (4/10/2005)
"Great city, average race" (about: 2005)

1 previous marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 2  FANS: 1


I did the half this year. I was a bit disappointed with the organization (I ran Chicago, which is an extrememly well organized race). There were no clocks to tell you your time (only at the finish), which made it hard because I was hoping to beat a certain time. There was only one person calling out times at the first mile, which seemed pointless.

My other complaint is that the water stops were poorly organized. For 6,000 people there was usually only 1 table of water and one of Gatorade. And most of the time it wasn't poured, which took longer. The volunteers, although wonderful, seemed short staffed.

The spectators were pretty lame. You'd think that a Red Sox parade was coming through or something.

That being said, I think St. Louis is a great city, and a wonderful little vacation if you live in the Midwest. The course didn't bother me because I anticipated hills. If this course would be better run with a bit more entertainment, I really think it would be a first-class race.
 

K. B. from Illinois (4/10/2005)
"Better than last year-still needed improvements" (about: 2005)

6-10 previous marathons | 2 GO! St. Louis Marathons
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 2


I thought this year's marathon was better than last year. It is obvious the committee has worked hard. A couple of comments though. There was no water left when we got to the 1st water stop. Due to the heat, it was difficult to make it to the next water stop. While there was water at the second stop, it was several people deep to get to the table. We lost precious time there. Several of the mile markers were difficult to see. There needs to be more music along the course. There were a few, but nothing like I remember from last year. I thought the new course layout was great. The expo was better also. I have one suggestion. If the date could be moved to the end of the month, there might more participation. It would allow us to start training at the end of Jan instead of Dec. Since Jan is ususally the worst of the winter weather, more people in the midwest might be motivated do the training.
 

Keith Murry from Spring Hill, Kansas (4/10/2005)
"What a great time." (about: 2005)

1 previous marathon | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was a very well organized run. I have been doing runs for over 20 years and this is one of the tops. The spectators were fabulous. Couldn't have made it with out them.
 

l. h. from illinois (4/3/2005)
"I loved watching Lamaar run" (about: 2005)

1 previous marathon | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


It was the most fulfilling event of my life to watch Lamaar Powell run 26 miles.
 

R. C. from Des Moines, Iowa (1/5/2005)
"Yes. Run it if you can." (about: 2004)

3 previous marathons | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


This was my 2nd marathon in about 5 months (ran Philly in fall '03) and STL in Spring '04. Maybe I am just thankful to be running again but, this was an excellent event. The start was right in downtown STL and moved out west to huge park where a World's Fair was and to the upscale Clayton area. Hills in the middle were a little tough, but it made my run a little more rewarding upon finishing. The last 1/3 gets back to downtown and goes past the Bud Brewery and is flat. The crowds were very friendly and supportive... you didn't get many blank stares like 'You paid to do this.' About mile 23/24 people offered beer for those crazy enough to drink and oranges for a vitamin C boost. The oranges were beautiful.

The race expo was well attended and organized and I brought my family from Iowa and we stayed downtown about 1/4 mile from the start/finish line. My two young kids and wife enjoyed the expo, and STL is a good place for little ones with some good children's museums and, of course, the arch. This was an excellent race. Run it if you can. Thanks STL.
 

D. T. from Jacksonville, Florida (12/12/2004)
"A so-so race" (about: 2004)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 3  ORGANIZATION: 3  FANS: 3


Was there any flat stretch? If you want a rolling hills, this is your race. But if you want at least a few stretches of flat, this is not for you. The elevation chart I saw did not seem to match this race. I wouldn't have minded the hills, had I known to expect them. And the organization was not great. I arrived fairly early at the expo, and already they had run out of race packets. The volunteers had to scramble to assemble more packets in a hurry. Several of the mile marks did not seem accurate. It wasn't terrible. But there are better races out there. I'm glad others had a better experience than I did.
 

T. L. from Louisville, Kentucky (11/28/2004)
"''GREAT RACE''" (about: 2004)

First Marathon
COURSE: 5  ORGANIZATION: 5  FANS: 5


My son ran in the 2004 marathon and will be running in 2005 as well. This is such a classy event, I've told everyone that they should go just to watch if not to run. Thanks from the whole family.
 

B. Y. from Chatsworth, Georgia (5/11/2004)
"Exciting, enjoyable, nice course" (about: 2004)

11-50 previous marathons | 1 GO! St. Louis Marathon
COURSE: 4  ORGANIZATION: 4  FANS: 5


To watch the Women's Olympic Trials got me pumped to try even harder in the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon. I enjoyed the course very much. The layout was nice. It probably would have been better if the loop around the beer company had been run in the opposite direction so we wouldn't have to criss-cross around mile 24. I was slightly disappointed because the shirt did not say 'Saint Louis' on the front (I am from the country in Georgia and many down here don't know what city SL is). All and all, I have bragged to others about what a nice race this way (and my first ever visit to St. Louis).
 

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