Central States Marathon

I ran in 2009 with my daughter and had a great time.

This was a really nice first marathon for me because it was so personalized. It is very small but bathrooms were available every 2 miles so I never had to worry. Since it is a loop race I got to see my husband and kids every 2 miles if I needed anything - food, drinks, encouragement - and they even let my husband rollerblade and push a stroller for 10 miles of the race with me, which was really nice. The volunteers were amazing and I can't wait the three weeks for the 2010 race to be here!

This is the smallest race I have ever done (about 50 between the marathon and the 50K, including 3 dogs), but it was also one of the most fun. The people who put it on do not take themselves too seriously, but they do know exactly what marathoners and ultra runners need. There was no medal, no t-shirt, but also no entry fee. And you get much more than what you pay for at this race! The course is 5 loops in a park in Ames, and actually each loop is two different out-and-back loops. At each end there was a water stop with very friendly support, and in the middle at the start/stop there was another. Therefore you have a stop at least every 1.5 miles, even though they only have 3 people handing you water and Gatorade. Very efficient use of volunteers!! The course never crosses a street (under two streets and a railroad track and along a couple of others), so no police support is needed. Although the loops are repetitious, the course itself is fairly pretty, along a small river that you cross 20 times. It is very flat and mostly shaded, and all good running surface. Plenty of fruit and snacks. Easy parking in the park, and you run near your car many times so you can drop off a warm-up or pick up something if you need to. I enjoyed the course because, even though it is a tiny race, I saw all of the other runners multiple times, including the race winner Chuck Engle. Chuck and almost everyone else said, "Hi" or "Good job" every time you went past, so by the end you felt like you knew everyone. Many of the runners do this one every year, so it feels much more like a long run with friends than a race. At the end you could select a "door prize" and a stuffed animal if you wanted. I have enough t-shirts and medals, but you can always use another door and stuffed bear!!! Ames is only about 40 minutes from the Des Moines airport, and there are plenty of reasonable hotels there. I think the Iowa State graduation was the day before the marathon, so Friday night the hotels were full, but no problem on Saturday night for the Sunday race. I was able to start early (just time yourself) and finish in time to get cleaned up, check out of the hotel, grab some lunch and head to the airport after the race.