Disclaimer: I received free entry to the Des Moines Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!”
Fall marathons are wonderful. Do you agree? One of my favorite seasons for racing and experiencing the great outdoors. When I heard that the Des Moines Marathon fell in October (October 21), I was very excited to commit and say yes right away. I’m very much looking forward to going the full marathon distance again and Des Moines is a great city for running.
Why Des Moines? Mainly it was because I have a brother and family who lives in the Des Moines area and it allows me to spend some quality time with them.
Nebraska and Iowa are so close to each other geographically. It’s just a short drive from here. And the roads and trails are pretty similar between Nebraska and Iowa.
It’s challenging to run a full marathon. We can’t take any of them for granted. So the challenge factor is appealing.
Why should you run this with me? It’s fun and exciting, even thrilling to run a race in a new city and state where you haven’t raced before. It gives us the opportunity to explore and meet new people, adding some variety and spice to life.
The weather in October is frequently almost picture-perfect (no guarantees I know). The beautiful autumn leaves and colors are amazing. And Midwestern hospitality is tough to beat.
Iowa is pretty heavenly. Remember from the movie Field of Dreams? Is this heaven? No it’s Iowa.
I admit I love running in Iowa. And not just over the pedestrian bridge from Nebraska. Mainly I’ve run in and near Okoboji, Iowa though. Lakefront. Very beautiful. So far Okoboji is my favorite part of Iowa to run within but maybe that will change when I run/race in Des Moines.
Word of mouth from friends who have run Des Moines strongly supports this decision. Yes, they have a half-marathon too if that distance is better for you.
It’s helpful to train at or on the course if possible (or near it anyway). I was happy to get some good trail training in recently near Clive, Iowa (13.1 miles from Des Moines on the trail sign). It was funny to see I was only a half-marathon away. So if I ran there and back, that’s a full marathon. Yes, but on trails. I know. Look alive! You’re in Clive!
My training is going pretty well. I’m running a little less with our dog and adding some longer solo runs to make sure I have a strong distance base to build to the marathon distance.
We’ll be in Des Moines, Iowa over the Labor Day weekend so I might see if I can run on or near the course if we are close to it. It’s not absolutely necessary to run on the course but it sure gives us more confidence if we’ve run on part of it or seen some or all of it. Some races give bus tours of the full course. I wonder if Des Moines does that. We’ll see.
Do you know friends and family in Des Moines? Or nearby in Iowa? It would be a good opportunity to visit them. And if you’re looking for a great race in the Midwest, this might be the one for you.
Want to run the race and save some dough? Use this discount code to save $10 off the full or half: dmmbibravediscount18. If you do run the race, let me know and maybe we can meet and celebrate after the race. Here’s the Des Moines Marathon website if you need it, very easy to remember: DesMoinesMarathon.com.
Run along now, family and friends! Run strong! Happy healthy trails!
See you in Des Moines soon?
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