35/50 - Des Moines Marathon

That 50th marathon look

50 marathons! Let's reminisce a bit: this all started back in 2001 when I was dating a girl who wanted to run the Chicago Marathon one day. I signed up for the 2001 Chicago Marathon a week later, not knowing exactly what a marathon even was. Stupid me. After that race, I swore I would never do another, yet here we are, 50 marathons over the past 15 years. I also never saw that girl again.

That 1st marathon look of not knowing what the hell you're doing

Let's get nerdy with the stats: the Des Moines Marathon was my 50th marathon, 35th different state marathon, and 31st sub-3-hour marathon. My slowest was the 2010 Pikes Peak Marathon (5:46:57) and my fastest was the 2014 Memphis Marathon (2:47:23); you could put two of those Memphis races into that Pikes Peak race and still have time for lunch! Pikes Peak is a tough one and is one of my favorites. My first sub-3-hour marathon was the 2009 Boston Marathon (2:59:06) - the race that kicked off this goal of running a marathon in every state. It was a perfectly executed race for me; I'll never run it again.

My average pace for all 50 marathons? That's 3:07:33. And my average pace for the 35 best state marathons I currently have? That's 2:57:30. Interestingly, my median marathon times are the couple I did in Wisconsin: the 2014 Wisconsin Marathon (2:58:57) and the 2013 Lakefront Marathon (2:58:39). Go Wisconsin!

All I have to show for it is this collection of ribbons and metal alloys

And now Des Moines... This was my 9th marathon this year and 12th in as many months. That schedule was starting to take its toll. Knowing that and knowing how poorly I've been training (read: not cross-training at all), my plan was to just get this one under 3 hours so I wouldn't have to go back to Iowa. Oh right, my ultimate goal is to complete a sub-3-hour marathon in each state. By that measure, the Des Moines Marathon narrowly got me to 29 states (there are 6 I have to redo - VT, ME, FL, OH, SD, OR) with 19 seconds left on the clock. But we'll get to that...

Michael and I made this a quick trip. After a Saturday morning shakeout run with the Libertyville Running Club at home, we drove the 5 & 1/2 hours to Des Moines. Have you been to the Iowa 80 - World's Largest Truck Stop? Michael hadn't. It's really not much to see but they do have a Caribou Coffee so...

We got to Des Moines, went to the expo, then to my delight, Michael had researched and mapped out the best and closest breweries and eats worthy of mention in a marathon blog that's more about beer and food than running. It's like he reads these! First stop: Court Avenue Brewing Company for lunch and, well, beer. Then after checking into the hotel and a few hours of yelling at people on t.v. - we were watching Tiny House Hunters on HGTV - we were ready to eat again.

Next up on the list of places: Zombie Burger + Shake Lab. This is a place 1995 me would love! Milkshakes were set to a mid-90s punk rock soundtrack - Operation Ivy & Social Distortion right off the bat. Everything is simple and fresh (think In-N-Out Burger), zombie-themed, AND delicious. Based on how crowded this place was and the recommendation from a local friend seconding this place, I'd say it's a must when in Des Moines. Back to the hotel for some murder-mystery shows. I'm starting to realize these are not Michael's favorite but they're my guilty pleasure.

The race started at 8am Sunday and we were 4 blocks from the start. This is sleeping in when you have 3 little kids at home. As I'm walking to the start corral, I stumbled upon a familiar face from college; Megan and I were friends and orientation leaders at NIU back in 2000/2001. I met her husband and friends then off we went. In our corral, Michael and I ran into Tom, also from the LRC, then kicked this off at a reasonable pace (6:45 min / mile).

It was warm and humid with an eerie, dense fog hanging around all morning (see race photo above). It might as well have just rained; we were drenched. Despite that, Des Moines has some great sights on display along the course: the stately homes along Kingman Blvd, Gray's Lake, and the Iowa State Capitol were some of the highlights. Of course things got a bit ugly on the hilly part around the Capitol (mile 23 - 25). Whose idea was it to put that there?!

Put a little gold on your dome

We were pretty consistent through mile 21, running together (crossing the timing mats at the same time to give those tracking us back home something to speculate over) and posing for every photographer. However, I was done. We both were. I faded knowing there was a 3-hour pace group that would soon catch up and keep me on track. Michael faded a little less. Sure enough, the first pacer passed me around mile 23 and the second pacer caught me around mile 24 and took me in with a finish of 2:59:40. Just enough to check Iowa off the list.

Shout out for 2 consistent 3-hour pacers! Not many races even have pacers for that group. Honorable mention to the guy running a 6:30 min/mile then walking 20 seconds that we passed (and who passed us) 26 times! I've never seen that strategy for a sub-3-hour marathon.

This race knows how to have a good time. It is well-organized and has a most righteous afterparty. Massage tables lining the finisher chute, free food from many vendors, and a street fest with beer and entertainment made it worth the price of admission.

I only drink beers that match my outfit

There was only one thing left to do before the drive home... Coffee at Mars Coffee Bar. My son Mars would approve. Oh, and a stop at Maid-Rite to introduce Michael to the classic Iowa burger joint... Or is it a Texas sloppy joe place? 60% of the time, I'm telling the truth but I ALWAYS say it with conviction. So I was half-right Michael, it IS an Iowa thing but more sloppy joe than burger.

34/50 - St. George Marathon

After all, this is Utah

I love the state of Utah. There is something different, almost otherworldly, about it that sets it apart from others: the red sandstone arch formations, colorful gorges & canyons, the Great Salk Lake, the Mormon religion... In & Out Burger. All of it fascinates me.

Our story begins after a flight into Las Vegas, lunch at In & Out Burger, and a 2-hour drive to St. George, UT the day before the race. The St. George Marathon is held on a Saturday - as are many races in Utah - for reasons I can only assume have to do with the followers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and their more disciplined observance of the Sabbath.

After the expo, we toured the winter home of Brigham Young - founder of Salt Lake City and 2nd president (after Joseph Smith) of LDS. Brigham Young was responsible for relocating the church from Illinois to Utah after Joseph Smith was killed by an angry Illinois mob. Just imagine, Illinois could have been the land of Mormonism! Nothing makes you feel like an outsider more than refusing a free copy of the Book of Mormon from the Elder (who claimed to have done mission work in Libertyville, IL) facilitating the tour. Instead, I asked to see the golden plates. He wasn't so accommodating after that.

Brigham Young's winter home, now a place for the LDS hard sell

St. George is not a party town on a Friday night. We opted for a good night's sleep since we had an early morning bus ride to the start. Similar to the bus debacle at the 2015 Revel Rockies Colorado marathon that Michael (who, along with Cheryl, joined me for this marathon) and I attempted, getting to the start looked to be questionable when we arrived to load the buses at 5am.

In hindsight, we should have known better given that they were incentivizing runners with some great raffle prizes if you loaded the buses between 4-4:15am. So here we are with about 6,000 of the 7,500 participants standing in unorganized chaos hoping for more buses to arrive. In the end, they did arrive and the race was delayed by only 8 minutes. We were on one of the last buses.

Michael and I started off conservatively. In true fashion however, I didn't really look at the map until the day before. This fast, downhill course also has quite a bit of long uphill. We were introduced to that at mile 7 at which point Michael turns to me and asks, "are you ok?" Shortly afterward I see that obnoxiously bright yellow/green Libertyville Running Cult shirt he is wearing fade into the distance.

I was just not feeling it. I decided early to run this smart and secure another sub-3 hour state. I have two more marathons in the next month and just ran one three weeks ago. I successfully ran nearly even splits - 1:27:30 for the first half and 1:27:36 in the second half. Michael on the other hand had the race I knew he was capable of since I first met him two years ago, 2:45:56 - a 5-minute PR! Incredible. I think he fully recovered and ate lunch by the time I finished.

Flashing The Stehling

Swimming at the hotel pool in those short hot pink shorts will turn a few heads, even more so in Utah. Afterward, we cleaned up at the hotel and staked out a spot at the finish line to see Cheryl finish. It was approaching 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Cheryl, Michael, and I all had a great race. The course showcases a beautiful display of mountains and canyons, farms and small towns along a mostly downhill highway. The field of runners is FAST and largely Utah residents. These folks are fit; no surprise given the playground they have to train on.

A best-places-to-eat list of St. George doesn't run too deep so we opted for the best for a celebratory lunch at The Painted Pony before a short drive to Zion National Park to hike the splendid canyon country.

Vantage from the Emerald Pools hike in Zion National Park

Before driving back to Las Vegas Sunday morning, we walked to the LDS temple then enjoyed coffee on top of some cliffs within the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve for sweeping views of St. George. This is a great way to start or end a trip to this area and clearly a popular spot.

The Temple... Of doom?

The Libertyville Running Cult does Utah

There was one recommendation from the 2015 Las Vegas marathon I didn't make it to that we could now remedy before our flight: Frank's Tiki Room. This old school tiki room located off-strip is housed in a dark room with Polynesian-punk kitsch everywhere. Naturally, we bought mugs to commemorate this successful trip.

How can you not want one of these to take home?

Finishing with a cartwheel