The 2018 event took place on Saturday June 23. This year they broke up the start with the first relay wave at 7 AM, the marathon at 7:15 and the second relay wave at 7:30. The weather was great for the summer, sunny, and a cool 60 ish to start.

This is my 5th year at the event and I ran it solo.

Registration: Available online for $85 or through mail entry form. Race day registration for around $100. Relay teams could have 2-12 members starting at $35 / person. Relay registration closes early, due to congestion at transition areas. Included with registration was the trail fee, race bib, shirt, bib timing chip, drawstring bag, & bracelet. This year relay teams received short sleeve tech shirts and marathoners received a singlet. *Unfortunately a sponsor named, "Gigantic," is printed on the back right above your butt.

Packet Pick Up /Expo: There was no expo. You could pick up your packet the Friday before in Dubuque or at the race start.

Pre-race: There was parking near the start, but gets crowded. Not a far walk to park elsewhere. A couple of port-o-potties on site. There is a required "team meeting" before the race, but it's just some pointers and words from military members. After this the National Anthem is sung live.

Then participants are encouraged to line up at their start time. Each wave is started with a cannon blast.

Race / Course: Entire course is run on crushed limestone, on the Heritage Trail. It is point to point from Dyersville to Dubuque.
-Elevation: flat, but paved sections and inclines /declines near major road intersections. Overall downhill.
-Scenery: There are a lot of corn fields and trees, sections with views of water and rock formations.
-The majority of the trail was shaded. The sunniest part is the first few miles
-Aid Stations: There were 6 legs & 5 exchanges for the relays, this is where the water & Gatorade stops were. Liquids were in a variety of cups from paper to plastic. Some of the stops had pretzels, Tootsie Rolls, and gummies. There were also roaming ATV's on course with bottles of water and Gatorade. The road crossings also had cups of water and Gatorade. *This event is advertised as military style, meaning you are encouraged to carry your own support, however it's better supported than many races I have ran.
-Course Markings: Each mile was marked with a sign.
-Volunteers: They were at the road crossings.
-There were port - o- potties at the exchange points. Marathoners got their own.
-Spectators: were in the form of relay teams at each exchange, there were also family members.
-Transitions: these were all crowded, since they opened up the race to more relay teams, it just seems to make these spots hard to get to, especially if you were driving a car for your team.
-Photography: There are some pictures on the website, but not advertised for having photos on the course. *I felt like I waved at a photographer 10 times, but sadly I am in the distance of one photo.
-Medical: There were atv's roaming the course with medical help. A tent at the finish line.

Finish / post race: After crossing the finish line, a volunteer placed a medal around your neck, handed you a bottle of water and placed a cold towel on the back of your head. There were tubs of chocolate milk, bottled water and bottled Gatorade. There was an announcer reading names as runners came in. The finishing area was spread out, there was one small tent with apples, grapes and cookies. A vendor with a brick oven was cooking pizza. There was a small "store" set up to purchase race branded merchandise. *When you are slow you get no pizza, as it's not monitored as to who gets it. If you didn't run, don't take the food.

NEW this year, beer! Each participant received a ticket for a post race beer, which included 2 craft beer companies. *This softened the no pizza situation.

Overall: I like this race, it's a nice option for a marathon in Iowa. It's flat and a great surface for running. It's a decent price too.

My race: I ran this a week after Grandma's marathon, but with a 56k trail race on the horizon, this was training. I started with the 5 hour pacer, but as much as I enjoyed the company I could only stick with him for about 10 miles. This is also when I realized I had a chaffing situation from HELL. I readjusted my pack after applying some chafe stuff (thanks Josh for crewing.) I did finish in a stellar time, but I finished. I felt ok except the chaffing. I like this race and I see next year it's the same weekend as Grandma's.