Scenes from Run for the Chocolate in Old North
More than 1,000 participants braved the sub-freezing temperatures early this morning as they made their way through the heart of Old North in the first ever “Run for the Chocolate” 5K race.
A good distance ahead of the pack, the first runner passed the halfway point at N. 14th Street and St. Louis Avenue and headed back through Crown Square around 9:13 a.m. en route to the finish line just north of Laclede’s Landing.
For many of the runners it was their first glimpse of the revitalization in progress in Old North, especially along N. 14th Street at Crown Square. Among the participants, though, were residents of Old North, including Nicole Leone (dressed in black with red gloves in the photo above) and Nico Leone (who was a bit too fast to capture in a photo). Also in the crowd was Crown Square commercial leasing agent Susan Sauer who as able to point out some available spaces as she passed by. (If you missed her during the run, you still can contact her by phone at 314-571-7654 or email at ssauer@ndconsulting.com.)
Although Crown Candy Kitchen was closed during the run, participants could smell the bacon, which no doubt provided incentive for some to finish the race to get back here for a good BLT and shake. Those calories that just got burned off have to be replenished somehow.
And even though runners couldn’t stop for chocolates while passing by Crown Candy, race volunteers were still out on the street with complimentary heart-shaped chocolates along with the more traditional cups of water.
Thank you to all of the run organizers and sponsors who brought this great event to Old North and helped show off one of our city’s coolest old neighborhoods. Special thanks go to Mike Weiss and Jerry Bruce of Big Shark Bicycle Company and Lindsay Van Quaethem of the Partnership for Downtown St. Louis.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2012 at 9:21 am and is filed under 14th Street Mall, Bikes and Trails, Crown Candy Kitchen, Crown Square, Crown Square Businesses, Life in ONSL, ONSL people, Old North St. Louis Restoration Group, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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3 COMMENTS:
"Scenes from Run for the Chocolate in Old North"
looks like a fun day for north siders, loved seein the old 14th street. from july 1946 till october 1952 went to Ames n webster
Thanks for checking up on your old neighborhood, Dubie. If you have any pictures of the neighborhood from the good old days, we’d love to see them.
Thank you so much for taking part and interest in this event yesterday. I totally agree that it was great to run through North STL and bringing more events to the area is something I would like to see more of. On a side note, I was that runner who was leading the pack and was wondering if you had any more photos from the race. Thank you again for your work.
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?