By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis – More than 18,000 runners and walkers took to the streets for the St. Louis Marathon on Sunday. The runners enjoyed sunny skies and one man set a new course record.
The race was run under near perfect conditions with cool temperatures in the early morning that rose to the mid sixties by the race's end.
Tara Keller of Columbus, Ohio, took first place in the women's full marathon with a time of 3:07:26.
"Ideally I've always wanted to be under three hours, but on the hilly course I was happy with my run," Keller said.
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt participated again this year. He ran the final leg of a marathon relay and was hoping to best his team's time from last year.
"Our relay team, we actually lost a minute or two, so we actually stayed about the same," Blunt said.
Karl Gilpin of Russellville, Missouri, won the men's full marathon for a second year in a row. Gilpin, 29, set a course record of 2:24.51.