It all started Friday night as Rachel, Tom, and I headed off to packet pickup. The plan was to get our packets and head to Olive Garden for dinner. Before we left my house, my sister asked me to pick up her two friends packets and her packet. I agreed and the three of us headed off to packet pickup and the start of a long weekend.

We arrived at packet pickup and all I had were the names of the people I needed to pick up for. So I had to look up their bib numbers before I could proceed. I found everyone’s bib numbers and I picked up their bibs, all was going as planned so far. I headed off to get the timing chips for everyone and ran into a problem. One of the girls I was picking up for didn’t have a chip for her bib number. They made me re-register her so she could get a new number and chip. The only problem with that was I didn’t know the girl; she’s my sisters’ friend!

I called my sister and she connected me with her friend. I finally got her information and straightened everything out. So all was well and the three of us were ready for a nice dinner at Olive Garden. As we approach the restaurant we see about 30 people standing outside waiting to be seated. It’s about 8pm at this point and we just want some food so we decide to try somewhere else. We settled on Fazzoli’s and off we went to the nearest one.

We arrived and they must have been very busy because all the workers behind the counter were bickering with each other. By the time Rachel, Tom, and I got to the counter to order they decided to stop taking orders for awhile. So there we were, standing at the counter for 10 minutes waiting to give our order. We were finally able to place our orders and had our food in no time. We got done eating and were definitely ready for bed. We arrived at my house around 9pm and yet another obstacle crossed our path.

Tom forgot his lucky headband at home and needed to purchase a new one. It’s basically tradition for him to run with a headband on. So we were off to Walmart for a quick purchase then off to bed. When we got home from the store we agreed we would set our alarms for 4:15am. This would give us plenty of time to eat and get downtown to catch a shuttle to the start line. We headed to bed around 10pm but we couldn’t fall asleep for the life of us.

After a not so sound sleep we awoke at 4:15am to the sound of the UNI fight song playing on Tom’s phone. We were all up, dressed, fed, and in the car on the way to downtown by 5:00am. (Shuttles from downtown to the start line at Saylorville Dam ran from 5:00am until 5:45am and we wanted to catch one of the first shuttles.) We were about 2 miles away from the shuttle and wouldn’t you know it, I got a flat tire… I pulled over into a deserted parking lot with the intention to change the tire as fast as possible so we could be on our way. However, that’s not how it played out.

I bought this car a couple weeks prior to the race so I hadn’t completely explored it yet. It took me about 15 minutes to get the spare tire and jack out of the trunk because for one reason or another something was stuck. I finally got the car jacked up and I was ready to take the lug nuts off until I realized I didn’t have a tire iron… It’s about 5:30am at this point and the only way we were going to make the shuttle on time was to run to it.

So off we went, running two miles towards downtown Des Moines trying to catch the shuttle. We made the shuttle in time but we ended up on one of the very last shuttles. After about a 30 minute drive to the start line we finally arrived. They dropped us off about a quarter mile away from the start line and along the way to the start were porta-potties. The three of us had yet to use the facilities that morning and there was no way we were going to run 12.4 miles without doing so first. We all got in line and wouldn’t you know it I picked the absolute slowest line.

By the time I got out of the bathroom there was literally no one around except Rachel and Tom plus a few people walking to the start line. We took off running, yet again, to the start line and as we approach it we hear the National Anthem playing. We arrived at the end of the pack and started to make our way to our seeded positions. We all ended up about mid pack and the gun went off! We didn’t have much time before the gun but at least we made it!

The race went well for all three of us and it ended up being a very nice day. Oh I forgot to mention that it was raining before the race while we were running towards the shuttle downtown. By the time the race started it was overcast but not raining. About 3 miles into it the clouds cleared and it was blue sky and sun the whole time. It was a very long morning but we did it. We made it to the race and finished it in one piece. Despite all the obstacles I had a blast and I think Rachel and Tom did too. It will definitely be a weekend to remember for all three of us!