Brian Kaseman's Staging Area

Packet Pickup: I picked up my packet on Saturday morning and there was no line for the bib. The line for the shirt was 5-10 minutes.

Parking: There are nearby hotels so some people walked or rode the shuttle (Sunday only). Parking was $5 but it’s the closest parking I’ve ever had to the finish line (and I needed it).

Start Line: Plenty of porta-potties and I only waited in line for few minutes. I was at the back of the pack and couldn’t hear the announcer very well. There were no corrals but I could clearly see the pacers.

Weather: The temperature had dipped to a chilly 36 degrees at the low and was about 55 when I finished. I wore a t-shirt and arm sleeves in case I was too hot but it was chilly enough to keep them on the entire race. I wore a raggedy hoody and dumped it the first two miles to stay warm at the start. My legs also burned a little so it was great having a little protection from the sun. With the sun rising, the second half has much more exposure.

Course: You run a half-marathon loop twice. There are three bridges that I estimate are 75′ tall with the first being the steepest and each succeeding bridge has less of a grade. It’s heck of a climb but it’s such a beautiful view to overlook Clearwater. The course is flat between the first and second bridge and after the third bridge. There are slight hills between the second and third bridge. The course starts wide and gradually gets narrower during the first half-marathon. The second half is narrow when running on the streets.

Aid Stations: There was no entertainment but each aid station had helpful volunteers, orange Gatorade and water. The website says all aid stations will have a porta-potty but they are actually offset by a short distance. One porta-potty per stop.

Crowd: This race really lacked a cheering crowd which I found very surprising because it has so much potential. The course runs by the hotels, through residential neighborhoods, etc. There are so many areas for a crowd to gather but not many were there. Even a few residents came outside and asked what the race was. People were there where it counted though: the last 4 miles. I was walking from maybe 50 feet away and a couple was cheering me to keep going and as much as it hurt to start again, I pushed through.

Finish Line: Of course, most of the crowd was at the finish line cheering everyone when they came in. I received my medal and water nearly right away. Caddy’s was offering breakfast burritos at the end of the lot toward the beach. A tent was setup nearby on the beach to collect a Sam Adams Session Ale and relax in the beach chairs.

SWAG: Love the medal and it really says a lot about the course. The palm trees, rising sun, and beautiful view. Beautiful medal. I’m a bit nitpicky about the 1/4 zip shirt. I like that my wife’s 5k t-shirt has the large emblem on the front. Would’ve loved that on the back of my shirt but its a small emblem on the pec. Also, my ego wants to tell people I ran a marathon but the shirt displays all running distances.

Performance: I was not well prepared for any marathon and I was surprised I pulled off 10:30 pace especially with climbing the bridges. Besides the aid station stops, I ran steadily all the way until the last 5k. Run exercises in hilly Cincinnati are probably what got me through the bridges. My only double digit run during training was 12 miles in mid-November. Afterwards, I was plagued with injuries and lack of time. I would’ve been better prepared for the wall and recovery with more long runs.

Packet Pickup-We got into town at noon Friday and immediately picked up our packets at the St Charles Community College. Many signs for directions and then even displayed pictures on Facebook. We picked our cowbell, sticker, race instructions, and bibs within 5 minutes; the line doubled as we walked past. Then we zig-zagged through the expo to get our quarter-zip tech shirts.
Parking-It is suggested to arrive at 6AM so everyone has time to park. Waze circled us around from 5th street to avoid heavy traffic. We arrived at 6:30 and immediately decided to park on the side street. The boathouse parking just filled up as we walked by.
Start-Line-St Charles has its own bathrooms around Main Street but only one area around the start line had port-a-potty’s. The lines were less than 5 minutes. Yet, bag check had a single long line so we had to return to the car. An Email and the hard-copy race instructions suggested to bring the cowbell from packet pickup for everyone to play to Don’t Fear the Reaper at 7:20. There would be bins to drop them in when the race starts and we could pick them up at the BJC tent afterwards. They did not play the song. There were no bins and people were just dropping them on the side after the start line. A volunteer at the BJC tent said they did not collect cowbells. I would not advise taking your cowbell to the start line.
I have now been in two races with corrals and I was excited this had one too. The race instructions say to enter through the sidewalk on Riverside to your goal pace (mine was 9:00 min/mile). However, it became jammed and I was stuck farther back at the 12:00 min/mile. The sidewalk was also packed with spectators and I think they should open the side from the Katy Trail as well.
Course-This course was perfect for a PR. At first, I disliked the thought of returning to the start line with the half marathoners. Returning to the cheering crowd and the party was just the boost I need to start my second half. The Katy trail begins at mile 12 which felt a lot smooth on my sore hips. The cheering at New Town in the first half was also a big boost. I think this area has the potential to be the same block party like Mariemont at the Flying Pig Marathon. Unfortunately, you must cross a grated bridge (twice) which sadly someone was injured on. The second half of the marathon was mainly on the Katy Trail and I loved the new footing. Near the turn around, you cross the Missouri River which was a nice view (I only thought about jumping in once) and run on paved path for a few miles.
Nearly the last mile, people were cheering and ringing bells. It definitely helped me push harder even though I was in pain. Thank you to the crowd for that boost!
The weather was in the 60s with overcast with a light breeze. It felt perfect outside.
Volunteers-Volunteers were great! Clearly said where I needed to go and told you whether they had water or gatorade. Although the map said there are only two stations with gels, even the next stations might have someone handing them out. The announce was also collecting information on approaching runners from family or friends in the crowd (…his/her #th marathon; plans on running the Iron Man; etc) which brought more interest.
Finish Line-I was given my connector medal. Although it is was the same as the 5k and half marathon, I displayed my blue Marathon ribbon with pride. I was also quickly given a bottle of water. My snacks waited for me outside the finish line area. There were halved bananas, a chocolate chip Chewy Bar, chips, and chocolate milk (including a towel). I’m not sure what brand the beer was but it was a light beer. Finally, I got to ring the BIG PR cowbell and it was felt good!
I haven’t run many halfs or full, but first one someone wasn’t handing out beer on the course! (Not that I would have partaken).

Don’t be afraid of the hills! After telling people I signed up for the Flying Pig for my first marathon, they sighed and said “Hilly.” With time, more people started saying the support you receive from crowd will help you through. The latter was right but they forgot to mention the support from other runners. You are given a bib that says ‘First time Marathoner’ and other runners cheer along the way.

The snacking. There is so much snacking along the way that the mile 20 wall didn’t exist. There were orange slices, bacon, pretzels, crackers, sweedish fish, icicle pops, etc. The turn around in Mariemont was like a block party. It was like it was fun to run even though it was Mile 15. Not to mention the beer, mimosas and tequila shots.