ST. LOUIS • Hymns will mix with rock, hip-hop and funk Sunday morning as church congregants and runners in the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon & Half-Marathon converge in St. Louis neighborhoods.

But some church leaders worry that closed roads and scaled-back parking to accommodate 21,000 runners that morning will affect attendance at their services.

The race starts downtown and snakes past more than 50 places of worship. Forty-one music acts will entertain runners along the 13.1-mile and 26.2-mile courses.

"We'll have services with whoever materializes. But I'm worried the crowd will be small, then irritated when they get here, because they'll forget to check the route," said Leslie Limbaugh, minister of students and communication at Third Baptist Church on North Grand Boulevard.

Ed Zumwinkel, pastor at Hope United Church of Christ, which borders Francis Park, likes the essence of the race because it's great for the city and supports Team Activity for Special Kids, a nonprofit group that provides opportunities for disabled kids to enjoy sports.

"But they've picked a time that really interferes with worship for us," he said. "Churches in these financial times are week-to-week on offerings to pay the bills, and it's going to be difficult for our older congregants to get here."

Other churches have decided to roll with the marathon. Charles Spomer, pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, chuckled when he heard that Hazard To Ya Booty will play at mile 12, near his church.

"Aw, man, that's going to be interesting. OK, well then, we'll have to open our windows and have a contemporary service early that day," he said.

At least two churches, Southwest Church of the Nazarene and St. John's Episcopal Church, which border Tower Grove Park, have canceled Sunday morning services.

St. Louis is saturated with churches, said Elizabeth Cox, director of community relations at Competitor Group Inc. in San Diego. She believes there are more places of worship here than in any of the 23 other U.S. cities where the group stages Rock 'n' Roll races.

Part of her job is to alert businesses, residents, churches and others affected by the race so they can prepare.

Ninety days before each race, she said, she sends emails to businesses, churches and aldermen asking them to spread the word that the race is coming and encouraging them to call with questions. Thirty days out, staffers distributed route maps to residents with a list of intersections where vehicular traffic will be able to cross the route.

Streets will reopen as the slowest runners pass by. Half-marathoners must complete their race in four hours, and full-marathoners must finish in seven hours.

"The entire marathon course will not be closed for seven hours," Cox said. "For instance, the early miles will open after an hour or two."

Despite all this prep work, she says, she's still heard grumbling, mostly from churches.

"But it's not like we could move the route six blocks over and not run past a church," she says. "There are churches all over the place."

PARTY ATMOSPHERE

The Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half-Marathon will be the largest races of their distances in St. Louis history.

Race officials said 60 percent of participants "—" about 13,000 of them "—" are from other cities and will bring spectators with them.

"There will be several people per party, and they'll stay an average of 2.8 nights. That translates into at least 15,000 hotel nights," said Brian Hall, chief marketing officer at the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Center. "I don't think we'll have any problem meeting our forecast of $20 million in expenditures for hotels, restaurants and retailers."

City officials and race organizers are eager to please participants, who paid between $55 and $145 to run the races. Part of that is creating a partylike atmosphere that lives up to the Rock 'n' Roll name; the other part is designing the right course.

In addition to churches, race officials must consider road width, traffic patterns and hills.

Alan Culpepper, Rock 'n' Roll's course designer, was instructed not to duplicate the route for the GO! St. Louis Marathon, which takes place in April. That meant steering clear of Forest Park and landmark areas to the west.

Culpepper, a two-time U.S. Olympian, calls course designing a balancing act.

"We work with local governments and communities to meet their needs while still trying to be advocates for the runners," he said.

St. Louis doesn't have a lot of overpasses or underpasses where vehicular traffic can cross the race route, he added.

The final course, which is certified as a Boston Marathon qualifier by U.S. Track & Field, is officially measured using a counter on a specially calibrated bicycle.

"We do it a couple of times to make sure it's accurate, and there has to be a witness," said Culpepper. "It comes down to being accurate within three or four inches."

FLEXIBLE IN FAITH

Bethel Lutheran Church in University City sits along the GO! St. Louis Marathon route each spring. Pastor Bill Yancey tried holding the usual Sunday morning services the first few years, but it didn't work out, he said. Many members couldn't figure out how to get to the church.

"So we decided to just go with it," he said. "The last three years we've been an official water station and we send a small worship band out to entertain. We turned what felt like an imposition into an interaction with the community."

Several churches will do the same this weekend.

St. John's Episcopal Church will have a water station. Pastor Spomer at Ascension Lutheran Church will make the restrooms available to marathoners, and some church members plan to hand out water.

Some might have problems getting to services, but Spomer is not worried that it will affect the weekly offerings.

"People have been aware of this long enough, so I don't think they'll let it be an issue," he said. "It's one of those things they can make up for the week before or the week after. A lot do automatic withdrawal from their bank accounts."

Limbaugh is trying to view the race as an outreach opportunity, so she'll open the front doors of Third Baptist Church in Grand Center as a welcoming gesture and is asking members to show up with silly hats, noisemakers and pompons by 8 a.m. to cheer on the runners.

Zumwinkel acknowledges that race officials have listened to his concerns.

"They came to see the spot, and the city will allow some parking on the side of the street that they normally don't, so they have been responsive," he said.

Still he doesn't understand why they can't hold the race at a different time or on other streets, he said. "There'd be a big stink if they ran it down Chippewa where there is commerce. It says something about what we value — that commerce is more important than worship."

 

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Let's rock 'n' roll

When — 7:30 a.m to 3:30 p.m. Sunday

Where — Starts on Market Street just west of Tucker Boulevard; finishes at Chestnut and North 15th streets.

Motorist cut-throughs — Intersections of Morganford Road and Chippewa Street; Tamm Avenue and Chippewa; Magnolia and Columbia avenues; Holly Hills Avenue and Kingshighway

Runners — 4,500 marathoners and 16,750 half-marathoners have registered.

First-timers — 33 percent are running their first marathon or half-marathon.

More women than men — 63 percent of runners will be female.

Representing — 25 countries will be represented, including Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, India, Poland, Germany, Mexico and Canada.

Get me to the church on time — 250 churches will be affected by street closings.

Bands on the run — 40 bands will entertain runners.

Thirsty? — 20 stations will hand out 338,000 paper cups containing water and sports drink on the course.

GU for you — 22,000 GU energy gel packets will be available for runners at miles 7.7 and 19.8.

Snack time — 42,000 bottles of water, 18,000 bananas, 11,000 oranges and 15,000 bagels will be available at the finish line.

Who benefits — $1.2 million will be raised for Team Activities for Special Kids.

Deep pockets — $20 million or more will be spent by out-of-town runners, their families and friends (about twice the estimate for four World Series games here).

Website — runrocknroll.competitor.com/st-louis