I was out for my morning walk today when I came across something interesting. Just about two blocks from our house I came across a sign that read "Historic Site 1904 Olympic Marathon Route". This was not a small sign, I mean it measured about 6' wide and stood about 8' tall.
It stood right along River Des Peres on North & South. Amazing what you can pass every day and never see, until you pass it from a different vantage point (in this case, walking).
So, now I was curious. Was the marathon route the old river bed? Is that possible? Was there once a road that went along this river? I know that the World's Fair was hosted in Forest Park, and I had heard that the football stadium at Wash U was erected for the 1904 Olympics...but that was all I had heard about it.
After a little digging on the inter-web I was able to uncover some interesting stories about the race.
Other resources:
Wikipedia
Useless Information
I still have not been able to uncover the exact route for the race. [I thought everything was on the internet now].
Somehow the City of University City found out that the marathon path crossed North & South near River Des Peres and sometime in history there was a Parks and Recreation budget surplus - so they put up a sign.
Well U. City...it worked, you piqued my interest. Now please post the rest of the story...in particular the route. I want to know if I can start selling admission to my land as "part of Olympics history".
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