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Comments: My husband passed the bib w/chip to me and I took off. I didn't even check my watch until maybe a half mile in and saw I was running low 8s, which surprised me since my speedwork has been limited. But I felt great and just kept on running! I settled into a pace that felt like a comfortable tempo. It wasn't too hard and I wasn't pushing it, but it wasn't easy, either. THe scenery was a little dull since the majority of this leg was on a highway, but I was a happy runner to be outside exercising on a sunny day. Around mile 3 I started to feel a slight twinge in my side. I wanted to nip that right away so grabbed a Gu and had maybe 1/3 of it and tucked the rest into my visor in case I needed it later. With maybe 1.5 miles left on my leg, the course made it back into the city and back on a city road. Around then the Mumford & Sons song "I will wait" came on my iPod and that song is my jam! At the point where they sing "Raise my hands/Paint my spirit gold/Bow my head/Keep my heart slow" the sun was shining on my face and I was just SO HAPPY to be outside running and I felt the spirit that only comes from racing and its atmosphere from the spectators and other runners. This part of the course is pretty well populated with spectators so I kept a lookout for the neon green shirts. I saw my family and my other three relay teammates ran onto the course so we could finish together. We all took a jump at the finish line and then walked through the chute.  Post race
Warm down: We got our medals and took a team photo. And walked through the best post-race spread ever! Ted Drewes ice cream sandwiches (crazy good), toasted ravioli (I gave this to my dad), St Louis Bread Co pretzel bread rolls, plus the usual bananas, water, granola bars, etc. Met back up with my family spectators. Found out that my BIL not only was the first person to make it to relay checkpoint #1, but he ran the fastest split out of the entire field. Crazy! The rest of us laughed that we didn't pass anyone, we only got passed. So needless to say, our 3rd place finish was on the strength of his legs. We cheered for the rest of our family as they came in and then took lots of pictures together. We're already talking about what family race we should do next year. Maybe I can convince them to do a tri relay ;) Event comments: The course had a TON of aid stations. Probably every mile if not more. Very well supported. Last updated: 2013-04-09 12:00 AM
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United States
GO! St. Louis
65F / 18C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 16/550
Age Group = Coed relay
Age Group Rank = 3/230
A little backstory. Both of my parents are from St. Louis and my mom's side of the family includes a lot of runners, starting with my grandpa (now deceased). Last year my sister emailed everyone that the Go St Louis marathon weekend included a 5k, half marathon, marathon relay and marathon and asked our interest as a way to get together and honor grandpa. About 40 people from the family decided to travel back to St Louis that weekend, either to race or to spectate. We designed matching shirts.
I signed up for a marathon relay team with my brother-in-law, brother and husband. We rolled into town on Friday night and checked into the hotel. We had a mini family reunion with everyone else who came into town on Friday. On Saturday we spectated the 5k, which was my other's sister's very first race. Lots of fun! My husband and I met up with some of my cousins and went on the Budweiser brewery tour Saturday afternoon. Loved seeing the clydesdales! And drinking the free beer...
That evening we met up with everyone at my aunt's house for dinner, wine and good times. My grandma (who has Alzheimer's) was there and even though she didn't know what was going on, I could tell that she was having a great time soaking up everyone's happy energy.
This weekend was all for fun - it seems as though the family has only gotten together recently for sad reasons, like funerals, so we were going to do something healthy and fun together. I had been battling plantar fasciitis in both feet since last September and had just started running again in January, but as a walk/run. I wasn't sure what I would be able to do for my relay leg so was just going to take it as it comes. And that was the attitude of my team - no expectations, just for fun.
Woke up on Sunday around 5:45a and left the hotel at 6:15a to walk to the start. We found my BIL at the start and wished him luck. My sister was on a different relay team so she walked with us to relay checkpoint #1, where my brother needed to be for the handoff. We dropped off my brother then got on the metro to relay checkpoint #2, where we dropped off my husband. We waited around there for maybe an hour, just goofing off and having fun. Then my sister and I got back on the metra to relay checkpoint #3, where we both waited to run the fourth leg for our teams. I could only guess what time I would expect to see my husband and around 20 mins before I figured he would get there I started warming up my muscles. Since we were all wearing matching neon green shirts, it was easy to see when he was approaching.