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☰
Des Moines Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Des Moines Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.3 
Organization 4.4 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 295 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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T. S. from Mountain Top, PA
(11/21/2023)
"Decent city race" (about: 2023)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The race started downtown but the starting line was very congested and we started late. The route took us up several rolling hills and around Drake University Track in the first half, then after the half marathoners broke off it was less interesting. We ran for miles around a lake in a park, then made our way back downtown. The after party was where the outdoor expo was held. We had 2 beer tickets, pizza, donuts, and live music. | |
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M. A. from Atlanta, GA
(10/25/2022)
"Run on the Drake Relays track!" (about: 2022)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Awesome race, great spectators! Mile 12 you enter the Drake Relays and run 400M on the track - they call your name when you enter the stadium - really cool unique experience. The logistics were rock solid - tons of porta potties on course and great aid station! With 70+ fulls in 32 states this is a top 5 race! | |
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W. C. from NY
(10/19/2022)
"Great Experience" (about: 2022)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Des Moines Marathon is well worth the trip. | |
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S. C. from Portland Oregon
(10/16/2022)
"Incredible!" (about: 2022)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Well done! My first time to Des Moines; this city is on the move! Very cool place. The marathon was great. Excellent course with nice variety of scenery. From beautiful neighborhoods to tree lined paved trails, to lakes and river fronts. It was always engaging scenery. Way more aide stations than I've ever seen; and enthusiastic! And a fantastic finish line party where your 2 food ticket got you great eats at the 8-10 food trucks, all while a live band played some great music. Highly recommend this run! | |
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N. M. from MI
(10/22/2021)
"Amazing" (about: 2021)
11-50 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great crowd support and the course was amazing too. Great running weather Thanks Again Desmoines for putting on a First Class Race! | |
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S. L. from Chicagoland
(9/23/2020)
"It was a nice day for running" (about: 2019)
2 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I ran the Des Moines half marathon as part of the I-35 Challenge. I ran Kansas City the day before and as a result I got a third bonus medal and I got to challenge myself to run 2 races in 1 weekend. The weather was really great for running in 2019. As everyone has said beforehand, Kudos for the race organizers! I stayed at the Hampton Inn Downtown which was on the riverfront with a beautiful view of the state Capital. It was a nice stay with breakfast set up early for the runners and the course ran right in front of the hotel. I would recommend staying here. There were spectators out until you get out to Waterworks Park. There are less spectators out there (about half the course was running around 2 lakes.) The scenery was pretty out there but the miles went by slowly for me out there. They do have bands along the route but I would give them probably just 1 star for the musical acts, they were not that great at all so hopefully the race didn't pay them to perform. I loved the medal, it was really, really nice! The quarter zip was nice too but I'll never use it because it was too big and I didn't have the energy to return to the convention center the next day to exchange sizes. Would I run this race again? I wouldn't because it wasn't one that was that memorable enough for me to want to do it all over again, but I can see why some people may want to do it. Overall, I recommend doing the I-35 Challenge because it is good to push yourself and see 2 nice cities in the process. | |
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M. M. from Chicago
(11/16/2019)
"Amazing!" (about: 2019)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Wow, just an amazing race. This was my 30th race and it was probably my favorite so far. I assumed that the course would be flat being in Iowa and it was a little more challenging than I expected, especially since where I train is flat as a pancake. The course was beautiful, the organization was amazing, and the fan support was good in the road part. I had pretty low expectations because it is Iowa, but this was an unbelievable race all around. | |
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C. B. from Missouri
(10/23/2019)
"Great Amenities/Organization" (about: 2019)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Overall a fantastic race. Rolling hills in the first half that level out in the 2nd half. Course was loaded with water/gatorade stops plus gels and fruit at multiple locations. Plenty of toilets on the course as well. Fan support was good and the weather was perfect | |
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Eric Schneider from Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
(10/21/2019)
"Gorgeous course" (about: 2019)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 Iowa was state 46 for me, and the conditions and organization were absolutely top notch. The spectator category got a 3 because there were parklands that were inaccessible for most, but the scenery was worth it. | |
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J. A. from Chicago
(10/23/2018)
"Wow. Just WOW" (about: 2018)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Des Moines Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I was pleasantly surprised at the expo to receive a full-zip jacket instead of the typical shirt. Things only got better from there. I parked one block from the race start in a free parking garage. The course was very nice (bonus for the lap around the Drake University track and the bald eagle spotted at Gray's Lake) and there were more water stops and porta-pottys than any other course I have ever run. Having run 60+ marathons, that's saying something. Gels were offered 5 or 6 times on the course, along with bananas, Twizlers, bacon at mile 19 (What?!) and ample course support on bikes offering gummy bears and peanut M&Ms along with vaseline and other aid. I could have run this course without carrying a water bottle or fuel. The food at finish was also good; pizza, BBQ sliders, yogurt, veggie wraps, chocolate milk, ice cream, etc... The race organizers have this dialed in to perfection. |
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