ST. LOUIS (AP) - The GO! St. Louis marathon and half-marathon this year not only features a flatter, faster course, it is becoming a two-state event.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/1NMtr0t) reports that organizers of the GO! St. Louis Marathon and Family Fitness Weekend decided that the 15th anniversary of the event was a good time to change up the course, criticized by some as too difficult.
"After 14 years, people were asking us to change the course. They were saying that the hills were just too much," GO! St. Louis president Nancy Lieberman said.
So this year's marathon and half-marathon on April 12 will start downtown and cross the Mississippi River into East St. Louis, Illinois, via the Eads Bridge. Runners will return over the Martin Luther King bridge, before continuing on with their 13.1- and 26.2-mile treks.
The result is a net downhill for the first 10 miles.
"I'm excited because A: We get to go over two bridges, which is super; and B: It's flatter, which will hopefully make my time faster," half-marathoner Susan Sauer, 48, of St. Louis, said. "And it still preserves going through city and touring neighborhoods that you might not ever see."
About 12,000 runners from 45 states and a handful of countries are expected for the marathon, half-marathon and marathon relay, in which four runners team up to run the marathon course.
A highlight of the new stretch will be the "Bridge Challenge 3.5." Individual times will be recorded on the 3.5-mile stretch that starts at the entrance to the Eads Bridge and ends after crossing the MLK Bridge. Age group winners will receive a medal and chocolate from Crown Candy Kitchen.
East St. Louis leaders are excited their city is on the route for the first time. City Manager Deletra Hudson said the mayor, civic groups, school choirs, cheerleaders and band members will cheer and pass out water to runners.
After returning to Missouri, runners will loop around Laclede's Landing, return to downtown, run through Soulard and around the Anheuser-Busch brewery, then back to downtown.
That's where the half-marathon ends. Marathoners will head west past Saint Louis University and into Forest Park. Popular local food and drinks will await finishers.