CAPE GIRARDEAU — Bitter cold didn't stop a group of southeast Missouri runners from competing on a snow-covered course.
As it began looking increasingly like the St. Jude Memphis Marathon in Tennessee was going to be canceled because of the weather, runners in Cape Girardeau started talking. They decided they wanted to run anyway, and a free event dubbed the St. Jude's Frostbite Half/Full Marathon was hastily organized.
Saturday's race in Cape Girardeau attracted 26 heavily bundled participants, with 22 finishing the half-marathon. Only one racer finished the whole 26.2 mile course with a time of five hours and 40 minutes.
Missouri Running Co. co-owner Kim Kelpe helped organized the race and competed in it. She described the run as "brutal." The temperature measured only 11 degrees when the race started.