ST. LOUIS – This weekend, thousands of runners will once again flood the streets of St. Louis’ historic neighborhoods for the 25th year for the Greater St. Louis Marathon.

The 26-mile race will begin at 7 a.m. on Saturday, and unlike the stormy Easter weekend, the weather is expected to be ideal for the runners, with cooler temperatures and dry pavement.

Although the weather will be dry, there are still some headaches the organizers of the marathon have had to deal with.

“There were a couple of sinkholes in the city, both of which are in close proximity to the course; one of them is actually on the course,” said Mona Vespa, president of Go! St. Louis.

The sinkhole on the course is at Park and 14th Street. Organizers are adding a minor detour around the sinkhole.

“They are certainly not things we can ever anticipate coming up; the best thing we can always do is plan for the worst-case scenario, which is that we cannot use that street at all so we are proactively going to go around it,” Vespa said.

The minor detour makes for extra legwork because courses are measured very exactly and are certified so they become qualifiers for the major marathons.

“So we actually have to go back out over each little tiny change and shift it accordingly, but it’s worth doing to do the whole thing safely and the right way,” Vespa said.

But excitement is high as participant numbers continue to increase.

One local runner, Dr. Jonathan Soloman, never dreamed he’d run a half-marathon, a former college football player once weighing 421 pounds. 

But through consistent diet and exercise, he dropped 175 pounds. He joined STL Run Crew, which helped him smash his original goal of running a 5K.

“Over time, just sticking with it and being in a community with people who really encourage me and help me. I was able to run 5ks, and I remember signing up for my first 10K,” Solomon said.

Jonathan’s story is one of perseverance and he’s already eyeing his next race, returning to his hometown for next year’s Los Angeles Marathon.