KIRKWOOD, MO- The 2025 Alpine Shop Meramec Marathon featured a return to the same course as last year, giving paddlers an opportunity to test themselves against previous results. Mother Nature helped them on their way with an almost perfect river level (even if it did make the starts a little interesting).
Pacific Palisades Conservation Area in Eureka hosted the start of the marathon course at 7:30 sharp. Dylan McHardy, who finished as a runner-up last year, teamed up with Kaitlyn Sewell to from the fastest team in race history, finishing in 3 hours and 11 minutes, taking 25 minutes off of last year’s record time. Bryan Hopkins, part of last year’s winning team, took second place in a tandem with Alma Hopkins. Jeff Behrns took first place in the solo marathon division.
The short course this year left from the Al Foster Trailhead in Wildwood for the 12 mile paddle to the finish at Greentree Park in Kirkwood. With the Meramec holding on to its higher than average level, the put-in was a small adventure, with no beach to help paddlers get settled in their boats. The short course was won for the second year in a row by Jon Marble in a time of 1 hour and 39 minutes, as he took 10 minutes off his winning time from last year.
A big thank you goes to event sponsors RaceOwl, 4 Hands Brewing Co., FITS Socks, Optimal Performance Centers, The North Face and Terrain Magazine for helping put on all of our races for you! And our thanks to Open Space STL and Missouri Stream Teams for their assistance throughout the day.
PHOTOS – Overall