IMT Des Moines Marathon Relay

For the second year in a row, I competed in the marathon relay at the IMT Des Moines marathon, and for the second year in a row, we had a blast on race day. The relay is the same distance and course as the marathon, but is divided up between 5 team members. This year's team consisted of 3 returning team members, Megan (a co-worker of mine at Pioneer), Erin (my lovely wife), and me. In addition, we had 2 newcomers in Dan (Megan's husband) and Justin (a friend of mine from middle school and high school).

The weather could not have been more different than last year. Last years race was humid with fog and got quite warm by the end of the race. This year it was cold and very windy. Erin started us off running the first 4 miles that included a big hill at the end. I ran the next 6 miles before handing off to Dan to run mile 10 - 15 that included a lap around the blue oval at Drake Stadium. Megan took the baton from Dan to run the big down hill into Water Works Park before handing off to our final runner, Justin, at mile 20. Everyone on the team ran fast today and we ended up finishing in 4:20:02.

Freezing and wishing the race would start

Time and pace is a personal thing, so I can only truly speak for myself, but I was EXTREMELY happy with how I ran today. My average pace for my 6 miles was 9:39/mi which beat the 9:45/mi that Erin challenged me to this year. In addition, it was faster then the 9:53/mi that I averaged for my 6 mile leg last year and is the fastest 6 miles that I have run in my entire life. If that didn't make me happy enough, when I got home and uploaded from my watch to Garmin Connect, I saw that my leg included 352 feet of elevation gain. That is 120 feet more than the route that I ran last year.

Crushed it!

Transition 2 and 3 were less than a mile apart so after I handed off to Dan, we walked to the next transition. With about 40 minutes to wait, I noticed that the water station that was at this transition was very understaffed and they were struggling to even get cups filled to keep up with the runners coming by. At this point, the marathoners were almost 15 miles into the race and I know from experience what can happen when hydration is compromised. Since we were waiting anyways, I decided to spend the next 30 minutes or so helping to hand water to the runners as they came by. 

Working the water station

The sun finally came out late in the race, and we all joined Justin around mile 26 to cross the finish line "together" (ok, so maybe we spread out a little bit, but we all found each other after finishing). 

The proud finishers

I can't state enough how fun it is to compete in a relay. This will most likely remain a staple on my race calendar every year, and it has me looking for more relay opportunities. In fact, I'm currently working to put a team together for the Market to Market relay next May. 75 miles from Jefferson, IA to Des Moines, IA split between 6 - 8 runners. In fact, I still have a few spots to fill out, so if this is something that you would be interested in doing, be sure to let me know. Runners of all experience levels are welcome!

It is hard for me to believe that we are already half way through the month of October. With only 1 race remaining on my schedule for the year, things are really winding down and the time for reflection, as well as planning for next year is upon us. For now though, it is time to get back to work.