Yesterday in Des Moines, weather was nearly perfect for running--68 degrees and partly cloudy. Inspired, the 35 runners who joined Dean Karnazes--including 5 first-time marathoners--kept up an amazing pace for all 26.2 miles of the Des Moines Marathon course. They crossed the finish line together in 4 hours and 6 minutes.
At mile 10 the course does a lap around the famous Drake University track, and standing there to meet the runners were the Drake University Mascot and fifty elementary school students from a nearby school. The kids ran the lap around the track with Karnazes and the other runners, cheering and high-fiving all along the way. It would have been impossible to know simply by looking that this was the sixth marathon in six days in the Endurance 50 quest to run 50 marathons in 50 days in all 50 states. Next stop: Lincoln, Nebraska.
