I found this race in a search for a last minute distance race that was closeby to me. I debated up until the Wednesday before between this race and Madison half marathon and ultimately decided on Capital pursuit since it was about 1.5 hours closer and I had never done a 10 mile race before. I was able to register online very easily through the website.

The race takes place in Des Moines, Iowa. According to the results of previous years, the race has historically taken place in mid September. This year the race was held in mid November. Unsure if covid was the reasoning for the move. Mid November in the Midwest can be a bit unpredictable weather wise and I was closely watching the forecast daily and becoming discouraged as the temperature kept dropping and the wind speed keep increasing. The race was scheduled to start at 9am and the weather was forecasted to be 31° with 17mph winds. The race was held on a Sunday morning.

I was able to find a cheap airbnb close to downtown des Moines where the race starts. I've been to des Moines countless times for races and for leisure. I made my way into town around 5pm. The website listed packet pickup at a local running/fitness store, but I opted to do morning of pickup so I could take my time visiting my regular stops like zombie burger downtown. While I was in the area I checked out the start area right by the Pappajohn Sculpture Park where I could already see Porta potties lined up. The pre race emails informed us that parking was free in downtown on Sundays and suggested a nearby parking garage where people could park.

There was a light rain on Saturday night and the wind speed kept picking up overnight. I woke up Sunday morning questioning my life decisions and also debating how many layers to wear. I ultimately decided on three top layers, two layers of gloves, leggings and a buff to cover my face in the wind. I grabbed a hot coffee at a local coffee place called Smokey Row hoping it would warm me up for the cold race. I got to the downtown area hoping to park at the ramp. I instead found some street parking a block away from the start line! Score! Now I could wait in my warm car until a few minutes before the race. I grabbed my bib and shirt from packet pickup and rushed back to my warm car until about 10min before the race start.

The race started at 9am sharp after a singing of the national anthem. The 5k and the 10 mile started at the same time so it was hard to seed myself in the group of about 250 people. We took off towards downtown and weaved through downtown for a few Miles before separating from the 5k about 2 miles in. Several of the turns through downtown were familiar as we ran these same streets in the Des Moines full and half marathon. Once we separated from the 5k the numbers definitely dwindled. But my body was finally thawing. We made our way up a street that was a slow climb and not very scenic. Then we took a left hand turn and started heading towards drake University. Some more familiar streets that were also on the IMT Des Moines marathon route. There were some nice houses to look at along this stretch. We crossed over the highway and made our way to grand Ave which was about a 2 mile downhill to the finish line. An announcer stumbled over my name as usual and I was handed a medal as I crosses the finish line. There were three or 4 water stations along the route but I didn't personally utilize any of then due to it being so cold and a shorter race.

A few steps away was a table packed with post race food! I was surprised to see the selection for a smaller race. Krispy Kreme donuts, cookies. Milk, water, Gatorade, energy drink sample, and a snack box with pretzels, sunflower seeds, fruit snacks, and a granola bar. I sat down for a few minutes to watch the kids dash and a few people who finished after me then I made my way the 1/3 of a mile back to my car by that point I was freezing cold again. Was able to take a nice hot shower at the airbnb and then did some shopping and drove the hour 45 minutes home. There was a post race at a local brewery with a free beer ticket for runners but I'm not much of a drinker and still had to drive home so I opted out of this

This was a nice low key race to knock out a longer run. A good training run for IMT des Moines in October if this race moves back to September. There were a few climbs, that might not be much to people who train better on hills than me. I likely won't run it again since I'm trying to run all 50 states. I would recommend it to others though.