Thank You Saint Louis!

It is my last day of the trip to St. Louis to run the Marathon.  Even though I did not get to even try to complete the Marathon because it was shut down due to the hot weather, I do appreciate all the people that organized the event, the volunteers, and the spectators.  While not as many as those for the NYC Marathon, it was a good crowd.

Special thanks go to

• the residents of Soulard with the big banner and the line-up to give us runners high-fives.  I recall high-fiving someone dressed up in Superman costume, that was fun.
• the lady who gave out slices of oranges somewhere around Mile 11.  It was getting hot then and she was properly situated between the water stations.
• the lady, sitting by the curb between Miles 12 and 13, who called out my name as she gave some encouraging words.  It was a nice personal touch that the bib have the first name printed.
• and of course, last but most important, my big sister TOTA (Top-of-the-Arch) and brother-in-law for hosting my stay and making it an all-expense-paid vacation with plenty of time for relaxing and recuperating!