Go! St. Louis Marathon
St. Louis, Missouri
Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sunday, April 6, 2008 was a perfect day to race walk the Go! St. Louis Marathon in St. Louis, Missouri. The temperature was between 40 and 60 degrees with sun and a little breeze. The 15000 participants in the marathon and half marathon found a challenging course with many gradual ups and downs and very few sections of flat terrain. There were plenty of volunteers at the water/Gatorade stations and the police and fireman and other volunteers controlled the traffic. The race utilized wide streets to minimize congestion. Much of the course was lined with enthusiastic spectators. I enjoyed the day.
My biggest challenge was getting to St. Louis. I was to leave Key West at 7:30 AM on Friday. My wife and I boarded the plane and it taxied to the runway. The pilot came on the PA and said he was taking us back to the terminal because Atlanta had a ground stop due to fog. At 9:00 we re-boarded the plane which took off shortly thereafter. We had to circle to wait to land in Atlanta. The pilot came on the PA and said he was diverting to Columbus, Georgia because fuel was running low. We stayed there for almost an hour before we took off for Atlanta. We finally arrive in Atlanta after noon. The hour and 30 minute flight had taken nearly 5 hours. We were wondering if we would be able to rebook our connecting flight as we stepped into gate 33 of terminal C. Then the unbelievable happened. I discovered that our connecting flight was using the same aircraft as we arrived on; therefore, we got back on the same aircraft about 20 minutes later and flew to St. Louis. Unfortunately, our luggage was not left on the airplane and remained in Atlanta. It was delivered to us at our motel Friday evening. I have learned from my travels to have my race walking outfit and shoes in my carry-on luggage.