Des Moines, IA
September 18, 2005
4:31:27
It had been over a year since my last marathon, so I was anxious to complete another one. This was the second race that Roxane and I trained for and ran together.
Des Moines was an easy drive from Omaha. The host hotel was right at the start and finish lines. My greatest memory from the race weekend was the pre race pasta dinner. Dick Beardsley was the featured speaker. He has an amazing personal and professional story. He autographed a copy of his book, "Staying the Course: a Runner's Toughest Race" for me. It is a great read which I highly recommend. Among other things, he told the story of his "Duel in the Sun" with Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon. It was one of if not the the greatest races in long history of Boston.
The late summer/early fall date meant for some unseasonably warm temperatures in Des Moines. The heat got to Roxane a bit at the end of the race and she, very out of character, barked at a volunteer and nearly did the same to a young spectator who was running on the course.
We finished in just over 4 1/2 hours. Roxane did so with very little training, a testament to her athleticism and determination. There's a small picture of us after the race at the bottom of the page.
Des Moines has become a popular regional race. They have moved the date back a few weeks now, so the warm weather can probably be avoided for the most part. The race was well organized and executed, and represented a good value. With this being my 10th marathon, I was able to officially join the 50 States & DC club at Des Moines. I've included a link to the club website on this blog.
With Des Moines, I had run TEN marathons. That seemed like a ton to me then, and I felt like a real marathon runner. I also started to think that maybe running all 50 states wasn't so crazy after all.
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