This was my 2nd year running the RnR St. Louis. I originally signed up for the 1/2 marathon however due to coming off an injury I switched to the 10k.

Expo: The expo seemed smaller than last year and only stuck around for 30 min. I got there the last day with 2 hours before closing and most of the people workin seemed like they already checked out and didn't want to interact.

Pre-Race Gear Check: Location was difficult. I walked around the park area that I thought was the gear check are and met a few runners who were in the same boat but no one knew where to go. Luckily, we found a staff member that directed us to the gear check which was not blocked off to traffic so there were a bunch of us waiting for the light to drop off our stuff.

Pre-Race Corral/Starting Line: I had no difficulty locating my corral and finding room for some stretching. The view of the starting line with the sun rising over the arch was fantastic and plenty of pictures were taken. My only issue in corral 10 was lack of organization, it seemed that there were more runners than the rest of the corrals and more people from corrals 11-15 than from 10.

Race: I enjoyed the overall expierience of the race. The bands were great and even though I run with headphones I paused my music to listen to the performance while high fives were given. The course was hilly but I expected it to be. The crowds weren't big but the people out were very vocal and friendly.

Post Race: The freebie snacks were alright, not a fan of a lemon power bar after running but the Gatorade and beer was nice. I don't know what about me says free beer but 2 different strangers walked up to me to hand me their beer tickets so I couldn't say no :) The bands were alright, I was hoping for more covers of songs than original works. Also there was a couple food stands and a hot dog was a perfect companion with the beer.

Overall: I highly recommend this race to anyone wanting to make a weekend trip to St. Louis... just prepare for some uphill running.