About the Race
The Chain of Rocks Bridge is an iconic bridge on the famous Route 66, also known as the Mother Road. This 6K race starts and finishes at the foot of the Chain of Rocks Bridge on the Illinois side. This unique event allows runners to participate with their local running clubs or as an individual. Proceeds from the event benefit the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation which you can learn more about in the text below.
Why Participate?
At Spewak Racing, we are all about building community and this running event is for EVERYONE! We're putting on a race that all runners can enjoy, whether you are a competitive runner or new to running. As a 501c3 non profit organization, Spewak Racing is running towards more than PRs--we are running for a better St. Louis. We firmly believe that the St. Louis running community has the power to change lives and advocate for more equity and inclusivity in our region. We know there are many people in our community that face barriers to running, which we want to minimize. Every penny of proceeds from your race entry goes back to helping our community.
Team Division: Our team division offers an opportunity for local running clubs to compete against one another for the treasured Chain of Rocks 6k winning team trophy! In our 2024 event, we had several teams compete in this division. Those clubs were Big River Racing, Fleet Feet, RunWell, Dogtown Running Club, Happy's Running Club, Blackburn College, St. Louis University Running Club, Toolen's Running Start, Team Running Niche, Road Warriors, Arch City Run Club, Three Run Four and Spewak Racing. We expect to see many of these teams and more return in 2025.
2026 Race Beneficiary:
In the last four years Spewak Racing has donated $24,000 to St. Louis City League and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation with the proceeds of our Chain of Rocks 6k. This year we have again selected the Jackie-Joyner Kersee Foundation as our official 2026 race beneficiary. We are again pledging to donate $6,000 in honor of Route 66.
Jackie Joyner-Kersee Foundation:
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, winner of six Olympic Medals, is considered by ESPN to be one of the 50 Great Athletes of All Time, and was voted Female Athlete of the 20th Century by Sports Illustrated for Women. She is the first woman to win back-to-back gold medals in the heptathlon, the first African American woman to win an Olympic Medal in the long jump, and the first woman to score 7,000 points in the heptathlon.
Born and raised in East St. Louis, Jackie is committed to ensuring that all children have access to high quality after school programs, safe recreational places within their communities, and caring adults to help them achieve their dreams. Jackie is the heart and soul of this organization, and serves as living proof that kids in East St. Louis can dare to dream big and if they have the drive and determination, they can accomplish anything they desire.
Timing:
In 2026 we are thrilled to bring back Start 2 Finish as our official timer of the event. Jake Goldsborough and his team at Start 2 Finish bring a wealth of knowledge to our event and are responsible for professionally timing signature St. Louis endurance events all year long. All results from the event will live on their website's results page after the event. s2fevents.com/results
Want to volunteer or support the event?
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