Race Review: 22 Miles of PAIN at the 2021 Des Moines Marathon 🩹 I-35 Challenge Day 2

Disclaimer: I received an entry to the 2021 IMT Des Moines Marathon to review 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!

If you haven't read my Kansas City Marathon race review yet, do that first! This review will cover Day 2 of the I-35 Challenge at the 2021 IMT Des Moines Marathon!

TRAVEL & EXPO DAY

Almost immediately after finishing the Kansas City Marathon, Jocelyn, Cassie, and I all hopped into our rental car and headed north on I-35 to get to our next stop - Des Moines, Iowa! I never thought I'd be traveling to Des Moines in my free time, but when BibRave offered this opportunity to the Pros, I thought it would be a great chance for me to tick Iowa off of my 50 marathons in 50 states list! The drive from KC to Des Moines is about a three hour ride and just a straight shot through miles and miles of corn fields. (The Iowa State sign had a slogan on it that read Fields of Opportunity which is a very appropriate slogan lol.)

We got to the expo in Des Moines around 4:45pm or so. The expo closed at 6pm on Saturday which was a tight squeeze for the I-35 Challenge, but we got there in plenty of time which was great. We pick up our packets which had significantly more stuff in it than KC:

DES MOINES MARATHON PACKET INCLUDED 

-Quarter zip (again, yay no tech shirts! Even though it's kind of tech-y material, it's still so nice!) 

-Bib & safety pins -Event program and catalogue of things to do in Des Moines 

-LOTS of product samples…. Probably too many product samples haha 

-A rain poncho which is a nice touch, even though it was beautiful for the race! 

This expo felt a little bit more full and more like a typical race expo than KC, which was nice. It was located in an event hall of a convention center, most if not all the vendors were running and fitness related (no one was trying to sell me windows and doors to the house I don't own lol), and there were lots of fun photo opportunities which we took complete advantage of!

We also met up with some of the BibRave crew, including Jenn, Bill, and his wife Jennifer! It was great to meet these folks in person after talking exclusively online for nearly two years! 🧡

We were all famished at this point so we popped over to the Iowa Taproom for dinner (which if I lived in Des Moines, I'd probably hang out here all the time). My stomach had finally settled a bit and I was feeling QUITE hungry so I was very excited for food! I also wanted to give myself a little bit of a celebration for finishing marathon and state #16 that day without totally trashing myself for the next morning's race, so I had a baby 6 oz. beer with dinner 😂

We were all pretty beat and we had races to get ready for in the morning (Cassie with the Des Moines Half Marathon and Jocelyn and I will the full), so we wrapped up dinner fairly quickly and headed to our AirBnB to crash. (Not before getting our flat runners in, though!) 

Jocelyn and I also ordered second dinner (lmao marathoner life) at about 9pm which was incredible. I almost didn't get more food until Jocelyn said she was getting pho and I knew as soon as I smelled her food I would very much so regret joining her on the order 😂 So we got pho and I added some crab rangoons to the order because YOU HAVE TO.

RACE DAY

I had the Space Coast with me under my singlet for race #2!

The race didn't start until 8am the next morning and we were staying literally a block away from the start/finish area (honestly the closest I've ever been to a race start!) so we were able to sleep in a bit which felt SO GOOD. We headed out the door around 7:40ish and I have to say I LOVED the energy of the starting line! It was in front of the Polk County Courthouse and surrounded by tall buildings, so the noise was just echoing around and making everything feel so much more exciting! We even got a great photo with all the BibRave Pros in our orange gear which was so great! It felt so good to be able to see my BRP teammates in person and give them cheers and well wishes before and during the race!

The half marathon and full marathon started together so Cassie and I spent the first quarter of a mile or so together before her first walk interval which was nice! We ran all weekend long and this was the only time I actually got to run together haha. I continued on solo through the majority of the race, but luckily I was able to see so many friendly faces as I ran! I did get to see Angie around mile 2 cheering and she snapped a photo of me running:

And I also saw Jenn around the same time as she was doing her thing managing the Instagram story for the Des Moines Marathon like a boss! The half marathon ran with the full marathon for about 2.5 miles before the split, and this is absolutely what I prefer when it comes to course design. I know that half marathoners will all be done running LOOOOONG before I will be, so while it's nice to run with the big pack, if they could go ahead and split off early so they can finish while I can't see them that would be great 😂

Miles 3-8 were INTENSE hills (as if we hadn't gotten enough of those in KC), and while this section of the course was super challenging and I was SO OVER hills at this point, I think if I hadn't run the KC Marathon the day before I think I would have actually enjoyed that section quite a bit. It was in a little bit of a wooded residential area, and the elevation of the terrain gave it some uniqueness for sure.

Unfortunately for me, I must have taken a weird step going downhill at mile 4 and totally tweaked my ankle. I was hoping the pain would be short-lived but with every step over the next mile or so I knew that I had done something a little bit larger than just an ankle twist and I would just need to figure out how to manage the pain over the next 22 miles. Nahhhhht a great way to kick off day 2.

I saw Jenn again at mile 7 which was so great! She gave me some words of encouragement before heading out in front of me, and I found the 5:05 pace group which I ran with for a little bit to take my mind off of the pain. Around mile 8 we entered into probably my favorite section of the course - the neighborhoods of Des Moines! The Des Moines community LOVES its runners on marathon day! There were so many houses that were having front lawn parties and just cheering everyone on and totally keeping my spirits high through the pain. I felt so supported by everyone who came out and cheered and volunteered!

This was also an out-and-back section of the course which I LOVE because you get to see so many of the runners! I got to see Jocelyn when she was around mile 8 and I was around mile 9. We didn't get to start the race together so it was great to see her running and share a high five and some cheers together. I am so glad I had someone who was going through the same races as me for my first double! I guess Bill also saw me when I was around mile 10 and he was around mile 14. I did hear a man yell "Riley!!!" at this point but it didn't compute in my brain why a man's voice would be yelling my name in Des Moines, Iowa and assumed it was for someone else 😂 It took me about 2 minutes to realize that it was probably Bill and we confirmed it later Sunday night at dinner 😂 SORRY BILL!

Mile 12 brings you into the Drake University stadium and you got to do a lap of the track which was so cool! I didn't know this, but apparently a lot of legendary runners like Jesse Owens have competed in the Drake University stadium before which is so cool. I appreciate the announcer sharing facts like that over the loud speaker as we ran through the stadium because I honestly would have no idea. They also announced every runner as you're running through including your name and your hometown so you get a little bit of a special moment. I know that's something I'll definitely remember about this race for years to come!

Miles 13-17 were probably the most challenging miles of the race for me. My ankle was really hurting and sending pains up my calf and through my heel as well, I figured out that my salt tablets got dropped somewhere along the way while I was running and I really felt like I needed some electrolytes, and the prospect of running 13 more miles was just a lot for me to handle. I FaceTimed Brett to let out some tears and he gave me the encouragement I needed to keep pushing forward. My Dad also texted me around this time to check in and having both of them checking in with me at the same time just helped me keep pushing through. I swear, marathons are NEVER a one-person effort. It takes a community to get you across the finish line, and I have the absolute best community.

Miles 16-24 take you through this really beautiful park that is flat flat flat! I'm surprised I remembered how to run on flat ground with all of the hills we tackled in the I-35 challenge up until that point XD The water stop at mile 18.5 was a PARTY and I kinda just wanted to stop running the race and hang out with them. They were giving out full cans of beer with their water and having the biggest dance party! Shout out to whoever made up the mile 18.5 volunteer team because y'all totally lifted my spirits at that point in the race!

I saw Jocelyn when I had just passed mile 20 and she was around 18.25! It was great to be able to see her again and share another high five and some encouragement. I know we were both hurting so much at that point but being able to see each other put a smile on both of our faces which was great. :)

Miles 22-24 were also pretty tough because my ankle was just so angry with me at that point and I still felt so far from the finish line. Again, my community continued to pull through for me. My friends Erin and Cullen were texting me our group chat, and Brett continued to check in with me via text (and Drangon Ball Z/WWE GIFS lol). Like I said, I would not be able to get through this weekend without my people!

The last 2.2 miles took place on a long stretch of road which was pretty challenging mentally. I knew that the finish was SO CLOSE but I had to keep running straight down the road for what seemed like forever. I just wanted to get to the finish and get some ice for my dang ankle!

Eventually I took a left, and another left, and a straight shot into the finisher's chute where I spotted Jenn and Cassie cheering for me, the announcers said "FRANKLIN, MA IN THE HOUSE!!!" and… 

I FINISHED STATE & MARATHON #17 AND THE I-35 CHALLENGE!!!

Jocelyn was not far behind me for her 97th marathon finish as well!!! We all gave each other big hugs when she crossed the finish. We had all accomplished some amazing things together this weekend!!!

RACE STATS

Despite my ankle nagging me for 22 miles, I actually performed fairly well through this race! I was only 11 minutes slower at Des Moines than I was in Kansas City which is so wild to me. I really wonder how I could have performed if I didn't have that injury so early on, but I'm happy with my performance regardless. Like I said in my KC post - the name of the game was to finish each race and I did exactly that!

OFFICIAL RACE TIME: 5:31:08

THE MEDAL(S)

I was given not one but TWO medals at the finish line! My IMT Des Moines Marathon finisher's medal was given to me by fellow BibRave Pro Angie which was SO special! And I also received an additional medal for completing the I-35 Challenge and it's so great to have something to represent all of my hard work put into these two races. While I might not particularly love the two medals I received, it's really the experience of this race that I will always remember when looking at each of them. I proudly wore both medals along with my KC Marathon around Des Moines on Sunday night!

OVERALL THOUGHTS

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I truly this race. The community of Des Moines really made this race so much fun for all of the runners. There was SO MUCH course support from volunteers and event organizers and everyone was so positive! The course design had a great variety of hilly sections and flat sections, residential areas, green spaces, and city views so you were always looking at and experiencing something new with each mile. The organization of this event was incredible from the moment I signed up (weekly newsletters, frequent live streams, and SO MUCH INFO at your disposal!) to the moment I crossed the finish line. I never thought I would be recommending folks to journey to the middle of the country to run a race in Des Moines, Iowa, but YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD RUN THIS RACE! I had such a fantastic time and I definitely would love to return in the future.

POST-RACE

After the race, even though we were seriously wiped, we really wanted to check out this restaurant in town called Zombie Burger to celebrate. We met up with fellow BRP Bill and his wife Jennifer for celebratory drinks and dinner and the world's most incredible milkshakes! 🤤 It was the perfect way to celebrate our accomplishments and round out such a fantastic trip before all heading home to our different points of the country.

Oh also... here was the state of my ankle after our night out 🙃

💀💀💀

The last few months training for my first double marathon weekend was an incredible journey. This was a goal that scared me. The training was so difficult and there were countless times that I questioned that I could actually pull it off. But the feeling of crossing both finish lines? So incredible. Every marathon finish is another reminder why I do this. There is nothing like the feeling of crossing the finish line of a marathon and being able to do it twice in one weekend is truly a blessing. Would I do another double in the future? Absolutely! 💕