With the 19th annual GO! St. Louis Marathon & Family Fitness Weekend steadily approaching, Missourians are either lacing up their shoes and preparing for the full marathon, half marathon, marathon relay, 10k, 5k, and more—or anticipating cheering along the sidelines. Either way on April 5–7, St. Louis will be filled with more than 25,000 or so athletes. Whether you’re supporting or participating, here are the five things you need to know.
1. Pace Teams. If you’re worried about maintaining speed or keeping pace during the marathon or half-marathon, you’re in luck. There will be Pace Teams to join for a variety of times. Teams are led by experienced pacers from Beast Pacing, who will set the pace for the entirety of the race so runners will always know where they’re at for time. Mona Vespa, GO! St. Louis president, says the pacers “know what the challenging miles are, what the easy miles are, so they can do all the thinking for you. They also seem to entertain the groups quite a bit, which can be really motivating.”
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2. Be a part of the weekend by volunteering. If you don’t want to run, but still want to be a part of the weekend events, you can volunteer. GO! St. Louis needs volunteers to help make the event a success. There are many ways to help such as watching over packet pickup, handing out water during the races, making sure the route is clear, getting runners where they need to be at the beginning and end of the races, and giving out medals at the finish line.
3. The best places for viewing the race and running it on the route. The route this year begins (for both the marathon and half-marathon at Forest Park and both will end at the St. Louis riverfront. This route promises runners beautiful views of the city along their journey. The first half of the marathon will have some inclines, but runners can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the last six miles will be downhill. This year the route will be faster than in previous years, as the course is flatter. “While we’re never able to get away from the hills,” Vespa says, “the best we can do is make the experience a little easier for folks toward the end.” According to GO! St. Louis’ website, the best places for viewing runners is at Forest Park on Art Hill, Central West End, and, of course, at the finish line.
4. There is a race for everyone. With more 25,000 participants, this three-day event has a race for all ages and running abilities. Friday, April 5 races will begin at 6 p.m. and include a 5K for ages 8 and older, and a Children’s Fun Run for ages 2–10. Saturday’s events start at 8 a.m. with the Mature Mile for runners 60 years or older and youth programs throughout the day. On Sunday, April 7, events will begin at 7 a.m. and include the marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay, and 10K. Runners in the marathon have to be 18 years or older, and 14 years or older for the half-marathon, marathon relay, and 10K.
5. Weren’t feeling up to it this time? Take Vespa’s advice by going to the races this year and enrolling in the training programs to get going for next year. Running a marathon or half-marathon is not such an easy task. Training for one of these races takes months of dedication and hard work. Luckily, GO! St. Louis has a variety of training programs to help support runners as they work toward running the 26.2 or 13.1 miles of a full or half-marathon. Vespa suggests that runners who aren’t up for the marathon to try running the 5K or 10K. “Being out and being in the crowd and feeling that energy is such a great way to get motivated to take on a longer distance. When you go to races, you see that it’s so representative of every ability. Seeing is believing for these things,” she says.
