I went through my usual pre-race steps after waking up: coffee, oatmeal, yoga. The weather was pretty much perfect, low 50's, but because I am usually always cold, I erred on the side of caution and went with long pants, a short sleeved shirt and a long sleeved half zip and cheap gloves I purchased the day before at a convenience store. I also had a large black garbage bag to protect against cold and wind (should I need it) while waiting in the starting corral.
Funny story about that black garbage bag...I meant to bring one from home to have on hand, but of course, I forgot. The first night I was in St. Louis (rooftop deck night), when I was heading back to my room for the night, I found myself in an elevator with a bunch of people who were in town for a school marching band competition. High school musicians (and their chaperones) were everywhere! Anyway, we were in the elevator heading up to the rooms. The elevator made a stop at a lower floor before I had to get off, and when the door opened, there was a woman standing in the hallway (presumably one of the marching band chaperones) holding a box of black garbage bags. When I saw her and the bags, I remembered that I'd forgotten to pack one for myself. I got very excited and asked her if I could have one of the garbage bags. She obliged, thank goodness, but she must have thought I was an absolute lunatic! I laughed and laughed the rest of the ride up to my room. What a good samaritan she was for helping me out!
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| Walking up Market Street to starting line area. |
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| Selfie with garbage bag! |
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| In the corral just prior to start. |
As we continued along the river, the touristy area gave way to a wall painted with (at first) a fish mural which eventually morphed in to more graffiti laden spots. Just past the 4 mile mark was the "Zombie Zone" which I thought was going to be a bunch of people dressed like zombies chasing runners, but thankfully it was just a water stop manned by volunteers dressed in zombie costumes. At this point in the race, my bladder was not going to let me ignore it any longer, so I made a porta-potty stop. I generally try to never stop during a race, as it is such an interruption to my pace and momentum, but when ya gotta go.... The bad thing is that after you've been running and sweating, it isn't easy to negotiate the porta-potty. I also had removed my half-zip around mile two because I was hot, so that was tied around my waist along with my cheap gloves tucked in to my pants. I felt like a pack animal with too much stuff on me. The toilet break took me way too long, and I knew I lost a couple of minutes of time, but I felt better after emptying my bladder and was happy once I was back out running, feeling lighter and more comfortable.
Around the next corner, we hit mile 5, and this area was still very industrial in landscape. Train tracks crossed the area and ran alongside. Not much seemed to be out this way, but there were some side streets that led to residential areas. A couple of people were miffed that they couldn't drive through the area due to the race and street closures.
Around mile 6 we passed the Anheuser-Busch Brewery, home to Budweiser and other beers. It was a big brick factory, really a network of factories with a big iron fence around it that made me think if the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. It was interesting to see, but (no offense, Budweiser) I thought the Miller Brewery out in Milwaukee looked more historic. About another mile and a half after the brewery was the turn around point for the race at mile 8. This turn around came in the neighborhood where the Alexius Hospital was located. It looked to me that this neighborhood was pretty hip and was in a transition of renovation. I suspect it will be the next up-and-coming place to live.
We hairpin-turned and then took a sharp left before the return past the brewery through a historic neighborhood called Cherokee Antique Row. The small side street was lined with brick row-houses and several store fronts that were antique shops, art stores and cafes. It was quaint and lovely to run through this neighborhood. We took a right hand turn out of this area on to S. Jefferson Avenue which was a main thoroughfare featuring traffic and the bus route. This section of the race was not fully closed off, so it was busy and traffic was moving. It was a mix of commercial, single home residences and apartments. We turned right and ran through the Sidney Street area which was a much quieter residential area. The homes here were so nice, but it still had a distinct city feel to it. As we came out of this neighborhood and made the turn on to S. 12th Street, a guy in one of those inflatable costumes was standing there giving high fives. He looked so funny, but I can't even remember what his costume was (a pig, maybe?). Anyway, he mad me laugh and helped give me a new burst of energy to get to the finish.
This race was largely flat, except for a couple of minor hills near the brewery. It was nice not having to struggle through late mile elevation. My legs appreciated that. From S. 12th Street, we were set on basically a straightaway path to downtown. I don't remember much about the surrounding area in this last two miles except for the bridge we ran over that crossed the highway just prior to getting to the downtown finish area. We came out back to Market Street and had to run one loop of a block around before hitting the finish line. As I crossed the finish, the announcer called my name, "Kristen Frost from Enfield, CT, welcome to St. Louis!" What a terrific way to finish.
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| Post-race photo with Arch in background. |
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| Park/finish area. |
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| City Garden sign. |
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| City Garden statues. |
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| City Garden statues. |
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| City Garden statues. |
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| City Garden statues. |
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| City Garden statues. |
I checked my results on line and my official finish time was 2:02:37. Even though that's a little slower than I prefer to be, I knew I killed a couple of minutes with that bathroom break, so all in all, I was happy.
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| Finisher's medal, race shirt and number. |
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| Missouri card. |
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