Emily Feldkamp's Staging Area

This was my 5th year participating in Des Moines marathon events and I will continue to do so every year that I can! The jackets you get for the half&full marathon are high quality, the shirt I got for the 5 mile was great and the hat I got for the combo was cool looking! The half course is packed with support and a pretty flat course that is great for setting PRs – I was 11 seconds off of mine. My only complaint is there is a ton of people that have no idea where to line themselves up so I had to spend the majority of the first 5 miles trying to sneak around people which was made especially difficult once it was cut down to half the road in water works park. All in all though it is an amazing race with great volunteers, awesome production and incredible swag! Plus the addition of Truly at the finish line party was excellent for this seltzer water addict 🙂

This was my 4th time participating in Capital Pursuit. I’ve done the 10 mile twice and now the 5k twice. There is always good competition and also seemingly always hot weather! The 5k course is flat and fast. It is excellent timing before the Des Moines Marathon to test your fitness levels. Any race put on by the Capital Striders is sure to be well run!

Packet Pickup: Went smooth. Swag was awesome – the shirt was super cute! One complaint – the guy doing the pre-race meeting said “we didn’t get wet suit strippers because we were *only* doing a half ironman”. I found that to be incredibly rude as a half ironman is still a pretty freaking big accomplishment! (And that said there WERE wetsuit strippers on race day Mr. Rude Man!)

Pre-race: Parking was kind of a mess and you end up having to park pretty far away. The highway looked super backed up but I took the back way in and got into the reservoir pretty quickly!

Swim: As a lowlander this was the most difficult part for me. That said, the reservoir is a beautiful place to swim and once I got used to the altitude it went really well – huge swim PR for me! Race was very borderline wetsuit legal so keep that in mind if you for sure want a wetsuit legal race!

Bike: Absolutely beautiful sights on pristine roads! Coming from Iowa I was absolutely amazed at the condition of the roads!!! Plus the mountain views were so great I wished several times I could stop and take pictures. A very flat course which allowed me a 45 minute PR from my previous 70.3. The only part I hated was the part on the side of the highway with cars zooming by at 60mph. It felt super unsafe and I was too scared to pass anyone during that portion.

Run: HOT HOT HOT!!!! I did all my training at the hottest part of the day so I didn’t feel the heat as much as others did. The aid stations were life savers! They did everything they could to try to keep the liquids cool in the heat and sun. Cups of ice were aplenty! There were a few short hills but for the most part a flat run. But there is literally NO shade whatsoever so don’t be me and get sunscreen reapplied before the run!! I was burnt to a crisp the next day!

Post race: I am always disappointed in the food Ironman provides post race. I’ve had better post race food at tiny 5k’s I paid $25 for. As a vegan I did appreciate that they offered veggie burgers though! The other bummer was they had torn down the swag store by the time I had finished (and I am not a back of the pack athlete) and I know some people don’t want to buy race swag until they actually finish.

All in all, I absolutely want to participate in this race again! The area can’t be beat for activities and stellar views! I PR’d my half ironman time by an hour on this course!!

I had only done Dam to Dam once before this new race organization took over and that was when the race was a half marathon. I thought this new race organization did a great job! The only down side for me was the start, our bus did not arrive at the start until the race was just about to start and there were insanely long lines for the port-a-potties still, so I did not actually start the race until about 15 minutes after the actual start. If I had been wanting to be competitive this would have been frustrating but I was coming back from an injury and just having fun! The course is the same as it was and is a fun point to point starting on top of the Saylorville Dam and finishing in downtown Des Moines. I really love the shirts they gave out! Post race beers from Exile were great. I would definitely participate again!

There are not a lot of 1 mile races so it’s really fun to test your mile time in a competitive atmosphere. Due to being injured this year I did the mile on a knee scooter in the recreational division which was a fun mix of all ability types! I love that they separate out recreational and competitive heats.

As I said in my last review I will continue to do this excellent race! This past year they unfortunately had to reroute the course due to flooding (to no fault of the race director!) which made it have a lot more sections that were paved instead of trail running. But still an excellent, beautiful course and a super fun party after with lots of beer flowing and fun yard games!

I participated as a volunteer at this race so take my course ratings with a grain of salt (the website required me to rate the course) but knowing the area it was in I doubt the scenery was very amazing 🙂

The volunteering itself was highly unorganized but we were compensated with free entry into another one of their events. So while frustrating, the fact that I saved ~$40 by doing it made it worth it.

The race itself seemed to operate smoothly. All participants get a mug for finishing and the sweatshirts you get aren’t the best quality but they look nice. If I get free race entry again I would definitely volunteer again, but without that there are definitely better organized organizations to volunteer with.

I’ve done this race the last 3 years and plan to continue doing it!

The swim – this year was an out and back in the lake. Since swimming isn’t normally allowed in this lake the shore is very rocky. There isn’t a ton of support out on the water. It is always wetsuit legal due to how late in the season it is!

The bike – The bike is through the Iowa countryside. There are a few decent hills on it and wind is normally strong from one direction. The first wave is collegiate so this year I did have to pass a few of those athletes that were swerving all over the road on their bikes and clearly new to triathlon – that’s not really on the race though as there will be new triathletes at all races!

Run – They changed the run this year from the past few years. It is all on the trail nearby and ends with a loop around the lake. Very flat and fast with nice scenery!

Overall – this is a very well put on event by the ISU triathlon club! It is also always the championship for the Heart of America triathlon series. My only complaint from this year is that there didn’t seem to be enough porta potties at the start. I will continue to do this triathlon and recommend it to all!

I have done the Capital Pursuit 10 mile race twice. Both times I ran a new PR on this course! Any race that goes down Kingman is going to have great scenery and lots of people out spectating. The after party is great – you get a free beer and they have a raffle with great prizes! They do finisher medals for the 10 mile and age group awards were gift certificates to a local running shop. I will most definitely continue to do this race!

I did this course for the first time this year. I had a great experience and would definitely go back!

Swim – Starts at the park beach. It’s a point to point swim so you have to get bused over to the start. The water was calm and the lake had beautiful trees surrounding it! Great course support in the water! I swam my fastest swim ever. The distance from the end of the swim to transition is fairly far – just something to be aware of! This year it was not wetsuit legal but I think it has been in past years.

Bike – The olympic bike course has Twister Hill on it – super fun on the way down and tough on the way up! Other than that it is fairly flat and typical Iowa country scenery.

Run – The run is pretty cool – starts out running on a trail through some prairie. Then you do a double loop through the park roads. There is some pretty solid hills on the run that you have to hit twice.

Overall – this is one of the few olympic distance tris left in Iowa so I definitely plan to do it again 🙂

I’ve done Grand Blue Mile the past two years and very much enjoy this event! They separate out the competitive and recreational divisions allowing faster people to run in a different heat. It is also run concurrently with the USATF Mile Road Championships so it’s very fun to get to watch the pros run after you ran!

I have done this race every year since it’s induction in Iowa and will continue to do it as long as I can!

The course – A trail run in beautiful Jester park. There are challenging hills and beautiful views. The trails are nice and wide and don’t get too crowded from my experience.

The after party – My favorite after party! Unlimited Firetrucker beer. The best chili you will ever have. (Also some bagels as it is the beer and bagel run). Yard games galore! We’ve been lucky with beautiful weather pretty much every year!

Overall – I love this race and if you want beautiful views and a fun trail run then you will too!

Packet pickup: Was pretty busy but went quickly. WARNING: DO NOT PARK WHERE IT SAYS CARS WITH BOATS ONLY! One would assume with the race going on that the lots near packet pickup would be allowed for racers but they are NOT! You will get a ticket 🙂 The shirts weren’t my favorite shirt but the bag was super nice and I use it all the time.

Pre-Race: You have to take a shuttle to race start which was kind of fun to meet fellow athletes. Plus it was POURING rain so getting to sit on a bus was fine by me.

Swim: The weather in 2018 made the swim an absolute nightmare, however in normal weather the swim would be excellent! This race will almost assuredly be wetsuit legal if that’s what you look for. Another thing to not is that transition is fairly far from the swim exit so your T1 time will likely be long. In normal weather having transition on grass would be great but in the monsoon that happened in 2018 it turned in transition mud runs… haha

Bike: TRAIN FOR HILLS! I was lucky enough to be able to ride the route before race day which I absolutely recommend to anyone who can. The bike is tough but not impossible! The views are actually surprisingly pretty in the farm country of Wisconsin. I had read a ton of reviews before saying the roads were in bad shape but coming from Iowa they seemed normal to me.

Run: The run was much hillier than I anticipated! It is a giant loop around the lake, through the neighborhoods in the surrounding area. I’m not sure if it was the weather but there was not a lot of crowd support out cheering people on. The volunteers at the finish line were amazing- one immediately came and grabbed me and made sure I was okay before sending me off.

Post race: The food was really disappointing- it was basically the food they had at the aid stations on the run.

This race was an amazing challenge and Madison is an awesome town! I would totally do this race again and hopefully with better weather 🙂

I’ve done this triathlon the past 3 years. I think it is a great triathlon for first timers as it has a more low key feel to it due to the fact that it’s not sanctioned. It also has a shorter swim than most sprint tris I’ve encountered- again great for first timers!

Swim – 1/4 miles swim at Big Creek Lake Park. The first time I did this one I was surprised when I made it to the first buoy and could still stand! It’s a mass start but generally pretty small groups. The water is generally really warm as it is mid July and not wetsuit legal.

Bike: The bike is out and back on country roads. You generally get a pretty strong headwind in one direction because you’re out in the country. Rolling hills but nothing major. Farm scenery.

Run: Loop through Big Creek State Park. Pretty prairie and lake views. It’s generally very hot by this point. Very flat!

Overall – I will continue to do this triathlon as the price just can’t be beat! It’s always fun to cheer on first timers and to compare your results to the year before. Plus the Iowa Games medals (if you place in your age group) are always pretty rad!

I did this race for the first time last year and am doing it again in a few weeks! I love the feel of small races like this one. It’s a point to point half so you get bused from the finish to the start – a great time to meet your fellow runners! My one comment is that there didn’t seem to be enough porta potties at the start of the half marathon – several people were still waiting in line when the gun went off. The course itself is on a trail and was very pretty – lots of pretty sunset views while you’re running! It was well supported with more people out cheering than I expected. It’s the perfect time of year with cooler weather and the net downhill course is a great opportunity to try for a PR! Post race food had many options and a hilarious photo booth with hillbilly themed items was set up!