Truly, this is the best of the middle of America!
Walking from the left coast to the middle, here's the IMT Des Moines Marathon. And what a route! It’s possible I’m in the minority, but I preferred the Des Moines Half Marathon race course.
Don’t get me wrong, the light and breeze of the Pacific coast bestow a soul satisfying peace. And I would never say a bad word about the dependable warmth of southern California sunshine. But in Des Moines on Sunday we walked along paved trails through two parks, Water Works Park and Gray’s Lake Park. There was no traffic at any point in the race. The air was fresh with fall breezes, willow trees bent over the river, and we could shout out cheers to our fellow walkers as the course was routed out and back for several kilometres.
Could it be the seasons are bred in my bone? I loved the coolness of the air and the remnants of coloured leaves on the ground. The dramatic first half kilometre walking toward the Capitol Building was heart swelling.
And the food at the end? Well, there is NOTHING I appreciate more than a race organization that puts effort and care into feeding tired marathoners. On Sunday, my arms were full with a bag of chips, a yogurt, an orange juice, a chocolate milk, an energy bar, and half an orange, in addition to the requisite bagel and banana.
Best of all at the Prevention tent, there were 4 massage therapists working miracles on exhausted muscles!
Remember, if you walked the Columbus Half Marathon or the Toronto Half Marathon on Sunday, let us know how you enjoyed it (or not!)
Don’t get me wrong, the light and breeze of the Pacific coast bestow a soul satisfying peace. And I would never say a bad word about the dependable warmth of southern California sunshine. But in Des Moines on Sunday we walked along paved trails through two parks, Water Works Park and Gray’s Lake Park. There was no traffic at any point in the race. The air was fresh with fall breezes, willow trees bent over the river, and we could shout out cheers to our fellow walkers as the course was routed out and back for several kilometres.
Could it be the seasons are bred in my bone? I loved the coolness of the air and the remnants of coloured leaves on the ground. The dramatic first half kilometre walking toward the Capitol Building was heart swelling.
And the food at the end? Well, there is NOTHING I appreciate more than a race organization that puts effort and care into feeding tired marathoners. On Sunday, my arms were full with a bag of chips, a yogurt, an orange juice, a chocolate milk, an energy bar, and half an orange, in addition to the requisite bagel and banana.
Best of all at the Prevention tent, there were 4 massage therapists working miracles on exhausted muscles!
Remember, if you walked the Columbus Half Marathon or the Toronto Half Marathon on Sunday, let us know how you enjoyed it (or not!)
Labels: Race review
posted by Wow Power Walking Founder @ 10:47 AM
2 Comments
2 Comments:
First the good news. I really liked the Toronto Half Marathon course, Hog's Hollow and all. I'm also really happy with my time, having finally come I'm under 2:30 (2:27:29). What I am a bit bugged about is the loose interpretation of "walker" by quite a few of the top finishers whose photos show a new walking technique known on some circles as "running".
C'est la vie.
Hi Bob,
CONGRATULATIONS! What an accomplishment. Your time is a reflection of your incredible commitment to training.
Sadly, when race organizers do not follow through on their commitment to a walking division, it diminishes the fantastic effort it takes to walk every step of the way.
I'm not sure what they did to educate people who entered in that division but I will be contacting them, and I hope you will too.
Lee
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