As I exhaustingly crossed the finish line of the IMT Des Moines Marathon last fall I excitedly slowed my run to a walk. Grinning ear-to-ear, I proudly stepped to face a volunteer who was handing out the coveted medals. She smiled at me, said great job, but motioned for me to keep moving on. I remember thinking, Are you kidding me? I just ran 26.2 miles and I am definitely going to get my hardware!
Then I quickly realized that my own medal was going to be coming from a different volunteer standing slightly behind the first. After I'd taken a few pictures with family and friends, devoured some peanut butter on a spoon, eaten a couple cookies, and inhaled a slice of pizza, I looked around to figure out what that first medal was for.
After a little investigation I discovered that that medal was for something called the I-35 Challenge, and those finishers that completed it received a separate medal aside from the one given after finishing the IMT DMM. I learned that the I-35 Challenge is a cooperation between the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon and the IMT DMM where runners can separately register for it, along with both of the other marathons, which happen on different days of the same weekend.
Almost immediately I decided that I wanted to complete the I-35 Challenge in 2015. Although I loved running the marathon and have big marathon goals for 2016, I had had a hard time finding the time to train, with the demands of my family and work. I also loved that with the I-35 Challenge I had some options. You can run two halfs, two fulls or combinations of fulls or halfs. I decided that I would run the option of the two half marathons.
Now that it is July and we are less than 4 months away from the challenge, I have begun training to get my body strong and capable of running two halfs in one weekend. I am excited to share that journey on the official IMT DMM blog this summer and fall. Look for me to offer weekly recaps of my training, advice for registrants, and just overall information that relate to my favorite sport: running.
During the 2014 IMT DMM.
About me: Although I am a Kansas Citian now, I was once a North Iowa girl, hailing from a little town called Rudd near Mason City. I am a runner of about three years, although I have always enjoyed being active through walking as well as participating in boot camp and other similar classes. Through running I have discovered a love that I did not know existed. Growing up I was never the most athletic person on the team and I always had to work hard to be average, but as an adult I have realized that I have skill in endurance running and I absolutely love it. I am not the fastest runner out there, but I am not the slowest either. In addition to being a runner, I am a college instructor, wife and mother to three children aged 3, 5, and 7 years. I have a personal blog at www.mamagottarun.blogspot.com and can also be found on Twitter and Instagram @mamagottarun. This is my second year participating in the IMT DMM races.
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