By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – A weekend of races and fitness events gets underway on Friday and culminates Sunday with the St. Louis Marathon and Half-Marathon.
Marathon president Nancy Lieberman says the weekend won't just include the long runs.
"This weekend is about fitness and it's fitness for an entire community and the community starts with toddlers participating in the diaper dash to the mature mile."
Other events include a fitness expo that starts on Friday at the downtown Adams Mark Hotel.
Lieberman says about 2400 people are signed up to run the full marathon and another 8,000 will run the half.
But she also says St. Louis isn't aiming for the prestige of other marathons around the world.
"While the Boston Marathon concentrates on the fastest and the fittest and these are the elite, our niche is with family fitness," Says Lieberman. "It's a different feel of an event."
As many as 17,000 people are expected to take part in at least one of the weekend's events.
There also will be some road closures in St. Louis, Clayton and University City when the marathon kicks off on Sunday at 7:00 AM.