Great event for Des Moines, IA and Des Moines running community. Event was well organized water stops a plenty and the volunteers were great!!! Being from the Des Moines area it was a great place to run my 1st marathon.

Great job for inagural race, course was perfect[at least where this first timer was concerned. only critiscism-couse was promised to be open until 2:00 to accomodate walkers and slow runners, but aid and water stations and all police and other support on final 6 miles or more shut down at 12:30. people were wandering through downtown without a clue where to go.
the course support cyclists were not even aware that the course was to be open that long this issue must be addressed if they want to truly cater to walkers. I hope it gets fixed, because my hometown in the fall is a great place to run, please join us next year.

This was my first marathon, so I am unable to make comparative comments, but I felt that this event came off remarkably well for a first time event. The course was well marked and well staffed with volunteers, aid stations and porta-potties. I want to give a big 'THANK YOU' to all of the spectators who line the streets and encouraged. I really liked the Urbandale Cross Country team doing 'YMCA' when I was out in the park. The course was beautiful and the weather was fantastic. My hat is tipped to Ms Neville. I will be back with friends next year

The race, the spectators, the course and the day were wonderful. It was my first marathon and I look forward to next year's with great anticipation. One of the highlights for me was the Urbandale Cross Country Team and their rendition of the song 'YMCA' in Water Works Park.

The course is a nice mix of urban and nature running. Nice first time race.Plenty of well stocked aid stations. One improvement would be split timers and same nice mile banners that was at the later miles.

Great course except between mile 18 and 24 where you really need the support as there were very few people in the Waterworks Park and Grays Lake areas...any chance to reverse the course and start through those areas?

Fan support was fantastic!!!

Organization was tremendous!!!

This was my first marathon and the organizers made it a very special and memorable event...they even kept the forcasted showers away!!

Kudos to Des Moines. You guys put on a great race. I ran a PR and qualified for Boston. Can't wait to come back next year. Just don't order up the wind next year...

Des Moines was a beautiful town and the course emphasized the strengths of the city: nice neighborhoods, fun downtown streets and a run through the Water Works Park/Trail run.

My complaints seemed to be echoed by those runners I finished with. The mile markers were not always visible. No one I ran with ever even saw mile marker 1. Once I determined what the markers looked like, and ran got out of the commercial streets, they were easier to notice. I missed mile markers 1, 3 and 6. This was a little bothersome as it made it difficult to make sure I had established my pace.

The other major complaint I had was the supposed 'runnder friendly' billing this marathon was being given. Although the challenge was welcomed, and the hills were certainly not terrible, the elevation chart on-line was very misrepresentative of the course. Understandably it probably increased attendance, it just seemed to be misleading. There were a great number of large rolling hills in addition to the major hill at mile 7-9.

The Oklahoma City Marathon is the only marathon I had run previously, so my opinion is not from experiance of many, but I also thought they could have had just a couple more water spots. Early on the water was scarce. Additionally, the GU hand-off occured immediately following a water spot. This made it difficult to actually use the GU then, leading to me just trying to cram it into my pocket for the next water point.

A nice touch OKC had at all of their mile markers was a running clock and/or someone with a watch (with the running time) to give you a heads up to your pace. I was not in great condition at the finish line however I don't actually remember seeing a clock there.

The chip timing was nice as well, but no one actually was given the two different times. The only time recorded was the gun-time. We didn't cross the mat to start our individual time, they just all started simultaneously.

Weather and people were very nice though. The last 6 miles were definitely tougher with very sparse crowds. The finish line a last mile in the streets was well attended though.

Beautiful marathon in a beautiful city. The crowd really kept me going!

The course is challenging. The downhill portion in the second half came at a great time. I was able to take 2 minutes off my time as a result of it. This was my 7th marathon and I achieved a PR by 13 minutes over my previous best. The water stations were well stocked. The staff was great! The spectators were enthusiastic! This was a fine marathon.