University of Iowa Credit Union Half Marathon (Part of the Marion Rotary Marathon for Shoes)

Race Date: April 13th, 2014

(This will not be the same date as next year will be, they have changed the date to June 14th, 2015)

Race location: Marion, Iowa

Race Distance: 13.1

Race website: http://www.marathonforshoes.com/

I chose this race for quite a few reasons. 1, The location was only 15 minutes away from me, 2, The price was phenomenal, 3, my work is one of the main sponsors, and 4, I was told by a lot of my customers that the previous year was a lot of fun. I will have to say that this has been one of my favorite races that I have done so far. The half marathon was a smaller bunch compared to the other races that I have done in the past, only having 350 total finishers, however no one was ever running alone. Another great aspect of this race was that every water stop was phenomenal. They had a lot of enthusiasm for the participants and were there to support us. The course wasnt too hilly, mainly rolling hills, but nothing too steep. However, the course does go out to the middle of nowhere, which can be pretty boring. Another drawback is that the marathon course is certified. This is good for those who ran the full marathon, however to those who ran the half marathon ran an extra .4 miles. To some this might not seem like much, but this is a good 3-5 minutes added on to the time. Overall this is one of the few races that I would definitely recommend to anyone.

Again, me and my mother post race. 

Pros:

• Great atmosphere
• Price
• Course elevation

Cons

• Length

A note about the date change, the weather has been unreliable in April and the date also has the ability to conflict with Easter, so the organizers of the race have decided to change it to June.