The 2009 IMT Des Moines Marathon was my fourth marathon, and it was an excellent, very well done race.

The course had some early hills, as noted by other runners, but the gorgeous fall colors helped to distract from that. The colors on the Drake campus were particularly spectacular. The rest of the course was, by and large, pretty flat, and contained a neat mix of the city, lovely residential areas, and a huge park to run through. Anyone who says Des Moines is not a pretty city has never been here.

The spectators, volunteers, and police officers controlling traffic were friendly and great all the way around. Traffic was extremely well controlled, although I understand a train caused some issues for the speedy marathoners, but I was not impacted by that! :)

Loved staying in the host hotel right at the start and finish. It is great being able to stumble out of my room in the morning and be right there. The late checkout time at the Renaissance arranged by the RD was a nice touch. I enjoyed being able to recover for a little while in the hotel without feeling rushed to check out.

My only criticism would be the shirts. In fairness, they did warn everyone that they ran small and you should order a size larger than you normally wear, but it should have been almost two sizes larger. I normally wear a L and could have used an XXL. Where did they get these things? I have never seen such bizarrely sized shirts!

All in all, it was a fantastic event, a great city, and I loved my time in Des Moines. Highly recommended for anyone looking for a fall marathon in the Midwest.

This is one of the most enjoyable marathons I have run!! Well organized from the expo to the finish. Although there are not a lot of spectators on the course, there is always someone to cheer. The run through Drake University was nice, and the lap around the school track was great (think Drake Relays). I would definitely do this race again.

A pretty course, with great runners, competent organizers, helpful volunteers, and friendly spectators.

Very nice marathon experience. I found the hills to be exactly as billed, not horrible but certainly noticeable. During the hill part of the course you are running through beautiful neighborhoods with mature trees and stately homes, which was a pleasant distraction. Props to the great turnout of neighborhood residents at mile marker 5 who were loud and supportive as we crested a steep, short hill! I thought the lap through Drake Stadium was going to be kind of cheesy, but it was actually very enjoyable as there were quite a few fans and you can fantasize about coming into the stadium as if you were in the Olympics. Yeah, that's dorky but whatever keeps you going.... Unfortunately you do not see yourself on the Jumbotron as you are running away from the screen as you are displayed. Nice gradual downhill and trails mile 16-18. Water Works Park and the lake had more spectators and fan support than what I had expected. Excellent medal and post-race food. I will definitely be back again.

I ran the half, and was one of the unfortunate ones to get stopped by the train. But it didn't matter; this was one great event. Lots of water/Gatorade/bathrooms. Plenty of spectators and bands. I had a great time. I knew at mile 12 that the marathon leader had to be somewhere around me, and I was going to finish at about 2:20. When we got stopped by the train, the marathon leader came up about 30 seconds later, and he was freaking! "Where's the finish?! Where's the finish?!" Got to see the greatest sprint of all time right in front of me, as he and two other guys took off like rockets as soon as the train passed. It was awesome. I'll be back next year and every year after that, but doing the full marathon next time. Only complaint is that I ordered an XXL shirt and they were out of them when I went to the expo, and that was early Saturday afternoon. I would have thought they would have ordered and saved one for me. They gave me an XL, which I can't wear, and that sucks.

This was my 62nd marathon, so I have a lot of experience. I was very impressed with the Des Moines Marathon! One key factor is that the race director really cares and makes each runner feel like a VIP. Not sure you can make it to the packet pick-up? No problem; he'll hand deliver yours to your hotel! The hotel wasn't sure about late checkout? No problem; he has ensured that all runners get the 3:00 p.m. late checkout and will follow up to make sure they honor that. No matter what questions or concerns I had, he responding promptly to all my e-mails, so I went into the race knowing I could concentrate on my performance and not the other "bothersome details." The "goody bag" wasn't much, but the long-sleeved tech shirt is nice and fits perfectly.

The Renaissance Savery Hotel was wonderful, and the lobby was a great gathering place for runners on the chilly morning pre-race. They had even arranged for "to go" light breakfasts (perfect for runners) for all those staying there. It was less than a block to walk to the start (and finish), which went off like clockwork. The course is very pleasant, with just the right amount of variety to keep things interesting. The hills were challenging, but came in the first half of the race and were runnable. There was plenty of shade through most of the course from the wonderful, mature trees, sometimes completely bridging the road. The old houses were lovely, and the parks in the second half were enjoyable. The aid stations were plentiful and always prepared for the runners, and there were lots of porta-potties on the course (even though the race map didn't show all of them). I REALLY liked running around the track at Drake University (mile 12), and the pictures there were great! Re-merging with the half-marathoners around mile 18 wasn't too bad as they had thinned out a lot by then, and there seemed to be cooperation with the direction for "slower runners/walkers" to stay to the right. The medal is very nice, and the finish line area was well organized and not too crowded. And there was BEER! The only criticism I would have is that your "personal print-out" of results (available in the results tent), as well as the results posting on the tent, did not show age group winners for the marathon. The age groups were posted for the half and the 5K, but not for the marathon. I later read that the age group awards would be mailed when the results were final.

You'll have a hard time finding something to criticize about this marathon. Great job, Des Moines!

"Nice" is an apt way to describe the 2009 experience. Nice weather, expo, course, and city. A great course for a 50-stater in a city I'd like to spend more time in.

Pros: The last 10+ miles are almost perfectly flat, the course makes good use of the city without double-looping, the trip on the Drake U. track is unique, the finisher food was great, and we were mostly shielded from the wind on the first half and aided by the wind on the second.

Cons: No same-day packet pickup (even though the race starts at eight) means you have to stay the night in DM, the start zone was tight for three simultaneous races and you had to maneuver around groups of walkers (!!), pretty healthy uphill climb in miles three to eight, concrete sidewalks and roadway for the last four miles inflicted a beating, and they ran out of XL and XXL t-shirts even though I registered in July.

This was my seventh marathon, and it was a last-minute decision between either doing Denver or doing Des Moines. I SO made the right choice. I loved the course. With the hills through the beautiful neighborhoods, the bridges, the lakes, and the cool fall weather, it couldn't get better.

Excellent support along the way. I liked having all the young people out working the event, and being enthusiastic.

My first time to Des Moines, and this was the best way to see the city.

And what a big, heavy, gorgeous medal. Thanks, Des Moines, I can't stop talking about you.

This is a great race with some perks that I would encourage other races to adopt:
1. Big post-race meal,
2. Bike aid
3. Lockers and showers for all runners (YMCA).

Minor Room for Improvement:
1. Start zone layout
2. Course flaggers.

This was a great race that I strongly recommend.
Below I will go into greater detail.

Pluses
1. Big Post Race Meal:
There was enough food at the finish line to replace my 4,000+ burned calories. Great snacks of cookies, apples, bananas, and granola bars; plus my favorites of chocolate milk (yum!), and BBQ (double yum!). Usually at races I get some bread, some sugar, and some dairy, and then I'm ushered past the food. This one had lots of food and I could remain sufficiently long to reload my burned calories.

2. Bike Aid
Volunteers were often nearby as they biked back and forth along the route. If you needed anything you could count on one being nearby you every five minutes or so.

3. Lockers and Showers for All Runners.
I've never seen a race partner with a health club to offer lockers and showers both before and after the race. Many runners leave the post-race party because they stink. A shower and change of clothes a block away makes the downtown party much more attractive to a freshly-rinsed runner. Thanks, YMCA!

Minuses
1. Start Zone Layout
Navigating from the YMCA (where I had just left a spare change of clothes) was complicated due to it lying beyond the starting line. To reach the starting line I had deal with runners' barricades and a volunteer who was trying to hold an unnatural line. There was also a point on the other side of the starting zone where the runners' barricades were funneling folks over the timing equipment. A tricky proposition for those who wanted to save time.

2. Course Flaggers
The race turns towards itself multiple times, with long, uninterrupted stretches of two-way traffic. The flow is easy to follow when there is sufficient volume. Many times there are signs and flaggers. One confusing but benign spot was at the mile 9 marker, which seemed to call to runners on both sides of the street.

Another sticky wicket occurred between mile 20 and mile 21. If there was a steady stream of traffic, it was easy to follow, but if there was a little lull; the turn became less than certain.

As I passed the first time, there was a minor lull and I followed the runners 100 meters in front of me. Only they were on their first loop and I was beginning my second - oops!

I ran a two-mile loop twice, resulting in an extra two miles. Had I studied the map better I would have made the turn. Yet, as the intersection had neither flaggers nor a directional arrow, the correct bearing was not obvious. Passing the mile 19 marker a second time, I was not immediately sure I was headed in the wrong direction. I had passed the mile 9 marker twice; maybe this was a similar layout 11 miles later.

Eventually, I realized my error and attempted to repeat it again to see if I would be ushered in the right direction. I approached the bike volunteers near the intersection in question and they were so focused on offering first aid that they did not further define the turn ahead. Those arms held anything I needed, but they did not realize what I needed was more direction. Granted I could ask at every intersection, but sometimes during a long race your in a meditative state and you simply follow the flow forward.

The bike volunteers seemed to be focusing exclusively on runners that might be suffering health problems; one can hardly fault them for this. First aid is more important.

All potentially confusing intersections, except for that one, had either pointing volunteers, signs, or both. It was a bit of an anomaly, but I bet at least 10 other folks made the same error that I did.

After making the correct turn I approached a later bike volunteer and asked that a flagger be installed at the earlier intersection. The bike volunteer seemed enthusiastic to help and I soon forgot about those extra miles. Correction: soon I was happy for them. Now I had an even larger appetite for the BBQ and chocolate milk to come. That thought was only heartened through knowing that only a block away waited a hot shower and fresh change of clothes at the local YMCA.

Highly recommended!

My first positive is for the accommodations (Renaissance Savory), which were right at the start and finish line. There is nothing better than waiting half an hour before the run to leave the hotel room and simply walk to the start area right outside the front door.

The expo was medium-sized, and the pasta dinner was good with no limits as to how much one could fit on the plate.

The marathon course was hilly from mile four through eight, as it wound through subdivision streets with huge, well-kept homes. The lap around the Drake stadium track was a nice touch. There were plenty of water stops, and running through the parks and around a lake broke up the monotony. The weather was cool but windy - but not enough to spoil my finish time.
Crowd support at first was strange, with lots of people but no cheering. Maybe it was too cold at first. By the end of the course the crowds got in gear to shout encouragement.

The post-race food was plentiful. They even had fresh-made sandwiches and more food then I could carry.
All in all, a good, medium-sized marathon.