I ran this marathon in June 2003. The race was held from 1996 to 2017. The 2017 field was larger than 2003. I’m not sure why they no longer have this race.
The race I ran went from Storm Lake to Marathon, Iowa. Another race, Marathon2Marathon, is situated around Marathon, Texas, and has been held since 2003.
There are three signs of civilization: Exxon, McDonald’s, and 7-11. Storm Lake has none of these. The town has no chain hotels or restaurants, but there are a few mom-and-pop motels and eateries. The town population is 11,000, and the suburbs are comprised of farms.
I flew into Omaha and drove the 3 hours northeast to Storm Lake. Totally in farm country, the closest interstate highway is 100 miles away.
Marathon, Iowa, is northeast of Storm Lake. This area of the state uses a one-mile square grid structure. All roads run east-west or north-south, one mile apart. The two locations have no direct route, and the actual road distance is over 26 miles.
The race was on a Saturday morning with an 8 am start/ Parking was at the elementary school, and I needed to take a bus the few miles to the start location.
The weather was reasonable for a June race on the prairie. The temperature stayed in the low 60s throughout the race. Except when we passed the farmhouses and creeks, there were no trees for shade. With total exposure to the sun, this race could have been brutal.
The route was on narrow farm roads and mostly flat. We faced traffic at all times with very little traffic.
The course zig zagged on eastly and northly roads. It goes about 10 miles east and 16 miles north. There were no towns on the course.
Sunglasses were a must when running east with the open roads and sunny skies.
At mile 14, we were directly south of Marathon. Making our final turn to the north, the grain silos in Marathon were visible.
Around Mile 23, we crossed State Route 3, the only major road crossing on the course.
The grain silos grew more prominent as I ran nearer. It was nice to have a target to shoot at.
Reaching Marathon, there were a few turns in town to reach the finish line. Marathon is a tiny town of 250.
Post-race food was available at the elementary school. I also had to wait a while for a bus back to Storm Lake and my parked car.
There are many states with towns called Marathon. Marathon, Texas, as mentioned earlier, has a population of 410.
The locations have a catchy name for an endurance running event. My guess is a local runner in Iowa came up with the race idea and, after 22 years, grew too old to continue the effort, and no one was willing to succeed him.