Expo

Where
Ameristar Conference Center
1260 S. Main Street
St. Charles, MO 63303

When
Friday, September 12 - 12pm to 7pm
Saturday, September 13 - 10am to 6pm

What
In addition to packet pickup, you can purchase official Lewis & Clark Marathon & Half Marathon merchandise and other race necessities and buy any remaining tickets to the pasta party at the race expo. The Lewis & Clark Marathon & Half Marathon Race Expo is free and open to the public.

Exhibit Space
Click here to download an application for booth space.

Pasta Party
A traditional carbo-loading dinner will be held on Saturday evening from 6-8pm in the Ameristar Conference Center Grand Ballroom, adjacent to the host hotel. Ticket for the pasta dinner can be purchased online when you register or individually by clicking here. The pasta party is open to race participants and their friends and families. The guest speaker for the evening will be announced shortly.

2008 VIP – John L. Parker, Jr.
We are excited to announce that John L. Parker, Jr., will be our 2008 VIP. His first novel, Once a Runner, is the cult novel for runners. Self-published in the late 1970s and for years sold out of the trunk of the author's car at running events, it went on to sell over 100,000 copies and achieve legendary status among runners. (Now out of print, used copies regularly sell on eBay for hundreds of dollars.) Once a Runner perfectly captured the intensity, relentlessness, and sheer lunacy of a serious miler's life. Kenny Moore of Sports Illustrated-himself an Olympic runner-called it "by far the best fictional portrayal of the world of a serious runner . . . a marvelous description of the way it really is."

After writing Once a Runner, John went on to write for Outside, Runner’s World, Running Times and numerous other publications. He also wrote or co-wrote many other books on running, including Aerobic Chic & Other Delusions, And Then the Vulture Eats You, Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot, Marty Liquori’s Guide for the Elite Runner, Real Running, Runners and Other Dreamers, Runners and Other Ghosts from the Trail and Uncommon Heart.

For over twenty-five years, however, fans of Once a Runner wanted to learn what became of Quenton Cassidy, the protagonist. In late 2007, John released the sequel, Again to Carthage, which begins in the early 1970s where the previous book left off. Cassidy's return to the world of competitive running is dramatic and revelatory both to Cassidy himself and to the reader, as is his desperate, all-out attempt to make one last Olympic team.

John’s writings range from inspiring to hilarious to useful – as does his own life story. John was profiled in a recent issue of Runner’s World Magazine. Click here to read the story. He will sign autographs at Saturday’s expo (10-noon and 2-4) and will speak at the past dinner (6pm).