Thursday September 11 - Friday September 12, 2014. Relay from Ames, IA to Iowa City, IA (TIffin,IA) 125 miles. 45 degrees, cold, rainy, cloudy; sun came out at the end of the day Friday.

The Rival Game Relay is a running relay before the Iowa / Iowa State football game. Teams of 5 -10 people will run from one location to the other, in various lengths with exchange points along the way. Runners could run any where from 3 miles to 8 miles, and on teams of 10 only needed to run twice. Finish in Tiffin to the logistics of an Iowa City finish.

Registration was available online. Price was per team, avg of $100 per runner. There were discount codes available before the race. Included with registration was a bib, t-shirt, post race beer and food, pint glasses, and port-o-potties & water on the course.

There was no expo, no specific packet pickup. However the team captain received emails and instructions on how to proceed. The bibs were provided at the start for car #1 and at exchange #7 for car #2.

Race / Course - The relay was through the back roads of Iowa.

Safety was a priority, any participant on the roads from 7 pm to 7 am were required to wear a reflective vest and flashing lights, head lamp. Run against traffic.
Black top roads, gravel roads - which were muddy
Exchange points were labeled with a small sign near the ground, at each point runners were to write down the time they made it to the point
Not every point had a bathroom
some exchange points were dark with no lights
no spectators - only those in your vehicle
hills!
not all exchange point had an official - easy to cheat if you lost your "baton"
Hazards - dogs, animals you can't see in the dark, running along side roads with no shoulder, busy roads
Water bottles at various locations
cardboard boxes for trash along the route, also provided with a trash bag for each car
no medics on the course
bring your own food

Post Race- At the finish with a blow up arch, teams were encouraged to join the party. There was food provided by Wildwood Smokehouse, Bud & Bud Light tallboys, a rockin band, and the bags game. Prizes & awards were given away. The overall winner received glass pitchers. Random drawing prizes of Starbucks gift cards and Running Wild socks & race bucks. Then there were awards for best team spirit and that team won beer, their heaviest runners weight in beer.

Overall: The relay across the back roads of Iowa was fun. You don't need to be a marathoner to participate. The price is affordable for everything provided. I would do this again, but I would make sure to form a team of people I know.