Preface
Depart Alaska and fly back to Louisville.
Even though it is already September, the heat wave in the United States is still there. It seems to be particularly hot this year, and the autumn weather is coming one after another.
I always feel lack of motivation when I go running in the summer, and the Chicago Marathon is coming soon. Before that, we thought we should do an LSD (Long Slow Distance Training).
After searching around, I think the St. Joseph Marathon in Missouri is good. I haven’t gone for a run there yet, you can get there by car. Although it will take a little longer, 47 and I can take turns driving, so it shouldn’t be too tiring.
Crossing Missouri
🛣️ St. Joseph, Missouri
Starting in Louisville, Kentucky, we'll drive west. On the way, you will pass through a short stretch of Illinois and finally reach St. Louis, the gateway city of Missouri. It then crosses the entire state of Missouri to reach St. Joseph in the northwest corner.
Missouri is the 24th state of the United States. The name comes from the Indian word meaning "people of the big canoes". Missouri is the hometown of the famous American writer Mark Twain. It was established on August 10, 1821. It is one of the new states carved out of the Louisiana Purchase from France. It is also nicknamed "The "Show Me" State".
Not long after entering Missouri, you can reach St Louis. St. Louis, Missouri's second-largest city, is located at the confluence of the Mississippi River and its longest tributary, the Missouri River, and has long been viewed as an important gateway to the fertile lands of the West.
This is not my first time in St. Louis. The first time was with Huan and a few Indian friends. During the Christmas holiday at the end of 2020, we drove there and back in a single day. It felt quite rushed, and the two Indian friends even had a quarrel over time.
It was the first time that I drove to another city with my friends. I took a lot of photos at that time, but I have never sorted them out. Just in time to write this, let me take a photo to reminisce. Most of the guys here have graduated.
I remember when we got to St. Louis we went to a dirt hill. I wondered what a big bumpkin would look like, but I later learned that St. Louis is located on unceded lands once inhabited by the Osage and Missouri peoples. As the center of Mississippi Native culture, these earthworks are associated with the Cahokia Mounds National Historic Site.
After Big Bumpy, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. I was very impressed because I saw a real black mamba! Although I am not a follower of Kobe, it is still very sad that Kobe passed away in 2020. At that time, it felt like there was a lot going on in the world, a lot of disasters, and very little exciting news.
At sunset, we went to the highlight of our trip to St. Louis that day, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, which is the most famous landmark in St. Louis.
This arch commemorating America's westward expansion was designed by Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen and built between 1963 and 1965.
The strong, elegant arch shape represents the gateway to the west. The arch is 630 feet (192 meters) tall, and visitors can take a four-minute tram ride to an observation deck at the top of the arch.
There are views of the city, river and surrounding land. At the base of the arch, the Museum of Westward Expansion displays exhibits about life in the 1800s and the construction of the arch.
Well, the memory killing is over, and I finally found a good home for these old photos.
The story of Missouri is still happening. Get in the car. 47 and I are now in St. Louis!
Driving into the city of St. Louis, we originally wanted to take a break at Planet Fitness. However, we accidentally drove next to a magnificent Gothic building. It was so majestic that we simply parked the car aside and went in to take a look.
After checking the information, I found out that this is the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis. It was built in 1818 and is one of the oldest churches in the United States. The church's spiers and sculpture decorations are impressive and attract many tourists and pilgrims every year.
Then we went to a very special buffet restaurant with Nepali and Korean cuisine. There were two flavors in one restaurant. It was delicious and replenished our energy. We continued to set off.
After leaving St. Louis, we continued westward and drove for about an afternoon. Finally, after passing through Kansas City, we arrived at our destination, St. Joseph.
St. Joseph is a small town, but it is not unknown. This is the home of Missouri Western State University. It is also the birthplace of the famous rapper and songwriter Eminem, and the legendary American thief Jesse James also died here.
St. Joseph was also the starting point for service to the west by the Pony Express, a postal service that began operations in April 1860. Initially it used postmen on horseback to deliver letters, newspapers and mail.
There is also a horse sculpture in St. Joseph, Missouri, created by award-winning artist and sculptor Timbul Raharjo.
The town is not big, but the atmosphere is great! All kinds of graffiti can be seen everywhere, bringing a lot of vitality to the place.
We got the running equipment quickly, and the staff asked us where we were from. I said we were from Louisville, and got a warm cheer.
st joseph marathon
🛣️St. Joseph, Missouri
This competition is the first one this year, and we have become a part of witnessing history. On the day of the race, I was a little embarrassed because I couldn't find my bib number in the morning. I was also a little worried, wondering whether the organizing committee would give me a new number.
After arriving at the starting point, I hurriedly asked the staff for help, but forgot to bring my headphones, causing me to lose part of my running rhythm. However, the volunteers were great and quickly helped me register a new number. It was very close to the start of the game at this time.
Although this is the first competition, the competition items are very diverse. The race provides five different distances for participants to choose from, including a full marathon (26.2 miles), a half marathon (13.1 miles), a 10-kilometer race (6.2 miles), a 5-kilometer race (3.1 miles), and a team relay event throughout the entire route. This race is also a BQ certified event.
The race course was set up really well. The track begins behind the Civic Center Park in downtown St. Joseph and continues to the south, including many of St. Joseph's landmarks such as Kruger Park, Hyde Park, Lovers Lane, Ashland Avenue, the Pawnee Express Museum and the Museum Hill area. It also integrates into the site's nine-mile historic park system.
The game finally begins. The route of this race can be roughly divided into 5 stages, from Civic Center Park to Krug Park Pool, a distance of approximately 4.4 miles.
This distance is very comfortable to run. The morning in St. Joseph is cool and the sun is gentle. What impresses me is that there are a lot of GU energy gels at each supply point. This is the first time I encountered it while running in the United States. The supply is really excellent.
The second section is from the Kruger Park Swimming Pool to the Park Avenue next to the Mark Twain School, which is about 5.2 miles.
This route is a bit challenging, but the scenery is beautiful. There's an uphill section at the beginning, then it gets flat for the first two miles.
Next is another slightly uphill section, passing Ashland Avenue, a historic and scenic area popular with runners. It ends with a slightly downhill section leading to a flat finish.
When turning back, I also saw 47 and felt that Siqi was in good condition. I noticed that there were not many photographers on the road, so before entering Ashland Avenue, I consciously found the volunteers next to me and took a few photos of me. They were very enthusiastic.
Ashland Avenue is very beautiful and spacious. The houses on both sides are exquisite, the avenue is lined with trees, and there are many children running out of their homes to cheer us on.
Because for this run, I wanted to show off my favorite Greek key elements, so I wore an NCAA Michigan State uniform. There were also some children who greeted me and asked me who the number 23 was. I told him it was Draymond Green, and he said he liked LeBron James the most.
It was almost ten kilometers away, and I turned back with the large group. As a result, I accidentally ran into the half-marathon team. Until I ran to St. Joseph Water Park, I accidentally ran back to the second half of the full marathon. I guess the volunteers didn't look like me as a platformer. I also felt something was wrong. Why was there no one there? We chatted and realized that I had taken the wrong route and was supposed to turn left at the end of Ashland Avenue.
For a moment, I felt that I couldn’t finish the full marathon this time, so I would go back with the half-marathon team! But I feel unwilling to do so. After driving for so long, I still feel that running a half-marathon is not enough. It happened to be LSD training, and I finally decided to finish the marathon.
The route back was a bit strange, and I always felt like I was going the wrong way. The volunteers and children were curious about why I was running back again, so I had to tell them that I was running the wrong way.
At the end of Ashland Avenue, I met 47 again, and Siqi actually ran in front of me. It was amazing. I told her about my experience running the wrong route but still finishing the marathon really well. In order to catch up some time, we set off separately without talking much.
Finally, I reached the long-lost ten kilometers and entered the third stage of this run. This section stretches from Park Avenue to the Southwest Park Loop, a distance of approximately 5.2 miles. It starts out as a slightly uphill section, then after the fourth mile comes another uphill S-curve.然而，这一段以一个下坡路段结束，可以说是五段中最美丽的一段。
Maybe I was lagging far behind, but a closed police car followed me very friendly, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far away. This is the first time I have had such an experience, and it feels quite interesting.
In fact, the feeling of being on the tail end of a crane is not as bad as I imagined. The volunteers on the roadside saw me being chased by a police car, and the volume of cheering for me became louder. Some people joked and said to me: "Run! The police are chasing you!"
After I hit 13 miles, I noticed my watch said 16 miles, so I started to turn back. On the way back I noticed that the mile plate on my watch matched the mile plate on the roadside and I was back in the race! Taking advantage of the excitement of returning to the competition, I also asked spectators on the roadside to take some photos for me.
On the way back, the weather was getting cloudier and gloomier, and thunder could be heard in the distance. It seemed like a heavy rain was about to break out! It was also at this time that the 5-hour Pacer caught up, and I ran with him for a while.
I finally returned to Ashland Avenue, and the rain started to fall. Ashland Avenue in the heavy rain was very different from when I came here just now. I quite like running in the rain, it makes me feel very refreshed.
The final stretch is from St. Joseph's Water Park to the end at Civic Center Park, approximately 6.2 miles. This is the longest section and can also be said to be the most difficult section.
It rained heavily and the world became hazy.然而，还有志愿者担心我们走错路，冒着大雨为我们加油和指示方向。 Since this was the first competition, there were very few full marathon runners. Our sporadic runners encouraged each other to run forward in the rain.
As we got closer and closer to the finish line, the rain also lightened up in time. Finally, at mile 25, Siqi was waiting for me here and took a bunch of photos for me, which was great! There are really a lot of volunteers in the St. Joseph Marathon, and it feels like there are more than competitors. There are just too few photographers, and they seem to be only near the finish line. Fortunately, there are 47, so there is a lot more photo inventory.
The final mile will be a steep uphill climb back to downtown St. Joseph. This uphill climb is very big, like running towards the city in the sky. After going uphill, the most conspicuous thing is a pointed tower. After the tower is the finish line.
Finally, after more than 5 hours, after experiencing various route twists and turns and weather changes, I finally completed another full marathon in Missouri.
After the rain, the small town of St. Joseph was very fresh and comfortable. After stretching, Siqi also ran back and we checked in and took pictures together.
When we were picking up the car, we passed by the horse sculpture created by sculptor Timbul Raharjo. The sky was very blue and the medals were red. We quickly took a photo of the St. Joseph landmark and the first St. Joseph Marathon medal. This is probably the best souvenir of this small town.
Postscript
On Sunday morning, before leaving St. Joseph, I flew my drone to record the morning sun just rising and the greenery here was really nice.
It took us a long time to return to the city. We still stopped in St. Louis and stopped by to see the Arch and listen to music. The difference from when we came here was that this time we came as finishers of the St. Joseph Marathon. We had heavy medals on our chests. Taking photos with the Arch while holding the medals was definitely a unique feeling.
During the weekend in Missouri, I successfully took LSD. There were undulating terrain and changeable weather. It was worth the price.
There are no running plans for the coming weekend because I have to attend Ryan and Zoe's wedding. Being the best man for a friend in the United States for the first time is a very special experience, and I wish the newlyweds a happy marriage.
The next stop is my second Grand Slam race and Siqi’s first Grand Slam—the Chicago Marathon. I’m full of expectations!
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Words | Arsenan
Photos | Arsenan
Design | Arsenan