Go! St. Louis Half Marathon – The Cards and a Bud

The Go! St. Louis Half Marathon is a great way to see the city of St. Louis.  The race starts under the Gateway Arch, winds into East St. Louis, over two bridges, through all the districts and finishes where it began.  Because I’m a baseball fan, running by Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals was particularly cool.  And, we ran right by the headquarters of Anheuser Busch which is an added bonus.  All in all, a fun filled run.

Bitter Cold

So the saying goes in the midwest, if you don’t like the weather, wait around for a few hours, it’ll change.  Thankfully, it did.  The weather called for bitter cold, 20 mph winds and snow.  Not sure if you’ve run in the wind and snow but I promise you the moron who tells you that you’ll warm up after a few miles is completely full of it.  Clearly they have never done this.  You never really warm up, nothing really gets loose and you’re wearing 20 pounds of clothing.  Its a terrible day for a PR.  Its a day to finish and then get scalding hot coffee and a long hot shower.

Fortunately, the weather improved in the final few days.  The race conditions ended up being much better, no wind, no snow or rain and a toasty 31 degrees.  Chilly but I’ll take it!  And, 6 degrees warmer than yesterday!  Who hoo!  Check that race out if you’re curious about slightly more miserable conditions.

The Cards and a Bud

If you’re a fan of baseball and beer then you definitely know about the St. Louis Cardinals and Anheuser Busch.  First, the St. Louis Cardinals have the second most World Series wins with 11 behind the Yankees with 27 and ahead of the Red Sox with 8.  Pretty awesome if you ask me.  And, Anheuser Busch which is now Anheuser Busch InBev and has 30% of the GLOBAL beer market.  Crazy!  So, two heavy weights here and a LOT of history.

The stadium is absolutely beautiful.  I aways thought that AT&T park where my Giants play is the most beautiful and, well, it is.  But, this stadium is up there.  The area right next to the stadium is incredible with bars, restaurants and lots of places to explore before, during and after the games.  I’ll be back here someday for a game, this much I know!  As for the beer, not so much.  Everyone knows that I’m a Coors Light guy!  C’mon now.

The Race

You will not hear me complain to much when a race starts under an iconic landmark like the Gateway Arch.  The thing is HUGE!  And, watching the sun rise behind it was awesome.  The race  heads over one bridge through east St. Louis and then back across a second bridge.  From there you swing by Busch Stadium, then weaves through many of the districts and downtown and finishes right where it began.  What a cool city, great ballpark and excellent race.  Thanks St. Louis!  I’ll come back again someday to watch a baseball game.  Go Cards!  MO, check the box.