It’s a double marathon weekend – the Andrew Jackson Marathon on Saturday and the St Louis Marathon on Sunday.
Today’s early morning flight to STL had been designed to maximize sightseeing – I’d start in Missouri, drive out to Jackson, TN, for tomorrow’s race then come back to run and fly out on Sunday. But as I picked up my rental car, I noticed the clock was already ticking. I’ve opted to cut the Busch Brewery Tour and the last time I was in St Louis I already had thoroughly enjoyed the Gateway Arch. It pains me somewhat then to cut a return trip to the latter as the contemporaneous documentary on the construction of the Arch is one of the best docs I’ve ever seen. Plus, when someone gives you an opportunity to climb the highest mountain, tower, arch, totem pole, dirt digger, etc in the area, you really should do it. And you know why — not because it’s there, but because YOU are there.
Extrapolating out from that rule… Well, it’s more a guideline than a rule… I’ve decided to try and see some of the “sights” I missed all those years ago when I first ran the St Louis Marathon (I just checked and it was 2011). I’ve put “sights” in quotes because what is my “sight” to see may not be others. For the record though I can say I pulled together my “sight”seeing list from RoadsideAmerica.com, ergo I know SOMEBODY agrees that these are “sights” to be seen.
Without further ado, a few “sights” before running:
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Please excuse the technical difficulties. Although my hotel SAYS they offer WiFi and I can even SEE their router on my network sniffer, it doesn’t appear to have Internet access. Oh, sure — I can login using the equivalent WarGames password of “pencil” but that doesn’t little good in posting photos or entries. As a result, instead of photos you’ll get thousands of words… well, tens of words at least.
I started by hitting the Go St Louis expo at Chaifetz Arena. They’ve got races on Saturday and Sunday and are even featuring a double race challenge for those tackling the 5k and marathon on consecutive days; I’ve got my double marathon challenge, thanks. A few vendors and an arena floor expo later, I did stop at the MO Lottery Booth for a free lottery ticket. I got a $1 Pick Four ticket but I have no idea what that means. Even at zero dollars cost for me, it felt like the least fun way to spend a George Washington. Like an overgrown toy executive being pitched a building that transforms into a robot, I just don’t get the appeal.
After grabbing my bib, I headed out on the real attraction quest. I stopped at the Arch for a quick pic but even with strong gusts of wind, the cloudy day caused all kinds of lighting problems. Still, a decent shot or two with my tiny tripod.
I then dashed over to snap a few shots with the Nijinski Hare, a king fu rabbit sculpture “on loan” to the Bi-State Development Agency. When done correctly, there is no defense against the crane technique… Except whatever the hell that drum thing was in Karate Kid Part II AND whatever Nijinski moves the bunny’s got.
A city park across the way featured an empty pink suit which I snapped both coming and going. Nestled into this art block I also stumbled across what I like to think of as a Harvey Buddy Cop photo opp (lots of bunnies in this town for some reason), as well as a Wicker Man Abe Lincoln. The less said about the horse with the Bit from Tron (1982) on his back the better.
But I wasn’t done with strange art… The Laumeier Sculpture Park afforded a few visionary choices amidst its displays. The docent/security/caretaker had to lecture some punk teenagers tossing a frisbee around the art as they kept aiming their frisbee or just sucking at throwing their frisbee at the art and bouncing it off the $2million works. Two million for that? I don’t see it.
Note – this will be WAY funnier when you see the picture I’ll upload later.
A quick stop at the World Chess Hall of Fame afforded a chance to channel my inner Windham Earle from Twin Peaks, particularly the episode directed by Diane Keaton wherein Leo the truck driver was sealed inside a giant pawn. I didn’t go inside as I got what I wanted from the outside.
This was also the case for Diablitos Cantina on the St Louis University campus. Are there two metal dinosaurs sporting sombreros and enjoying their cervesas over a carcass on the roof? Yes. Yes, indeed.
I then got on the road to Jackson, TN. Had I not just done a 2000 mile road trip last weekend I might have handled the four hour drive a bit better. I also might have done better if I didn’t get a flat tire on the highway. I was cursing Alamo for being out of compact cars and thus complimentarily “upgrading” me to a crappy gas guzzling full size car. But kudos to the Nissan for informing me my left rear tire was dangerously losing pressure. I made it to a gas station who directed me to a tire place up the road. I could hear the air whooshing out of the tire but limped into Simmons Tire. I realized as the mechanic there helped me that I’m a coastal speaker — I talk fast and slur my words, always in a hurry to get to what’s next. This guy, who I’ll call Patch as he marginally funnily doctored my tire, was a true Mid-Western/Southern fellow, a guy who spoke at a slower cadence but got the job done. Good guy but if I were Zootopia’s Judy Hopps, he was Flash-Flash-Hundred-Yard-Dash.
But he truly knew his stuff. When he lifted the car up I spotted the nail in the tread right away and said I thought that was the culprit. He said I was 100% right and he went about patching it. I watched, fascinated by the methodical process as he removed the tire and then swept up the area around his machines. He told me couldn’t stand working in dirt. As piles of dust, grime, and car detritus flew about the ground and settled more or less into a pile, I both understood where he was coming from and wondered when was the last time he worked if there was that much to sweep. He showed me at each step what he was doing and I kinda loved it, snapping a photo here and there when he wasn’t looking to just try and capture the vibe. He must have seen me snap a pic because he told me about this 18-year-old girl from the next town over who had come in with a flat two days prior (in my head I calculated how much dust must accumulate around this town if the pile settling hear me post-sweeping was only 48 hours worth). This girl was snapping photos as well at each step and then apparently posted them onto “the Facebook.” Patch told me his wife was at the hospital and the nurse said her husband was on the Facebook. And she asked the nurse, “what’s he doing on the Facebook?” And the nurse explained he was fixing a tire, that this girl had posted and tagged the photos. His wife laughed and he laughed because he was just fixing a tire and this girl had never seen that before. I tried to tell him it’s something he does every day (or at least every two days) but to other folks it’s like magic — patching a leaking tire and getting people back on the road. I thanked him profusely as without his help I might’ve been stranded on the road. As he slowly finished and handed me the offending shrapnel as if it were a bullet removed from my body and I needed a souvenir, I told him if that girl could post s pic into the Facebook then so could I! I snapped this photo then and paid him the entirely reasonable sum of $15 for his half hour labor to get me back on the road.
I finally made it to Jackson, TN, and Union University to pick up my packet for the Andrew Jackson Marathon tomorrow. It’s a small race, albeit hitting its 44th annual running. The t-shirts didn’t come in so they’ll mail mine out to me. But I’m all set for tomorrow.
I’ve grabbed some pizza and settled into my hotel, The Old Hickory Inn. Hilariously, the business card just lists General Manager. I like to think it’s akin to an Old West Town where the Sheriff kept getting killed so they didn’t bother engraving the badge or changing the signage.
There’s supposedly a cold front moving through tonight so the start line temperature is forecast to be 38 degrees. I’ve got my gear laid out and I’m as ready as I can be, despite snafus, leaky tires, and computer glitches.
The dawn awaits.