(not our typical) Market-to-Market Relay

The Market-to-Market Relay never disappoints.

I can say this with 100% accuracy as a longtime participant.

The preparation. The team camaraderie. The support from fellow runners. The pink gorilla. The race day excitement. The nonstop action until the finish line is crossed.

The 2025 M2M was one like none other, though….

I first ran this event in its inaugural year in Iowa. It had already been in existence in Omaha when the event company (Pink Gorilla Company) brought it to Des Moines (2014). 

With the Pink Gorilla (L-R) myself, Rachael, Nicole, Rachel, Barb, Mary, Nikki

This last weekend, the Grinnell Girls Gone Running team reunited for their 12th year of running the Market to Market Relay Iowa. While this was only my fourth time running with this team, I had run the M2M several times with a team from my place of work (in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019). M2M had to go virtual in 2020 and 2021 (#Covid). In 2022, as M2M returned with all its glory and fanfare, my dear friend, Barb, invited me to join this team. Due to scheduling conflicts, we had to swap a few runners around (both in 2023 and 2024, and this year was no exception, LOL), but I was excited to reunite with the gals on GGGR team.

(L-R): Barb & Nikki, Lauren & myself, Rachael, Mary, Rachel & Nicole

Similar to a Ragnar relay (but on a smaller scale), M2M incorporates an approximate 76-mile route. There are 18 exchange points along the course where the teams rotate runners and swap out each team's running batons (in this case, each team has a slap bracelet). Each team is comprised of 6-8 runners, and there are various team divisions based on gender, age, co-ed, collegiate, and corporate. Many of the teams have their vehicles decorated and many of the runners are in costume. It's quite an event!

This year, due to trail repair, there were two time-outs (shown in red), where all runners skipped a short segment of the route and drove to the next spot on the map

With our team (#388) of eight, I was the eighth runner (thus, my bib number was 388-H). That meant my first leg wouldn’t be happening until late in the morning, long after our team's 6:30 wave start. I hadn’t bothered with any breakfast before meeting the gals at 4:45 (they departed Grinnell at 4:00AM), but knew I’d have plenty of time to eat something before it was my turn to run. Besides, this year they gave us a free donuts!

have donuts, will run

Mind you, there isn't much downtime between the running legs, since we have to drive ourselves to each of the parking spots near the exchange points. The runners are on the paved Raccoon River Valley Trail (for most of the course), but the vehicles are off-course (and given maps, with detailed directions).

We pulled into Jefferson shortly after 6:00. The weather was near-perfect, with temps in the mid-50F's and plenty of sunshine (trust me, we've had many other much cooler race starts before, with wind and rain). There was ample time to grab a few pics with the famous pink gorilla (who rallies all the runners with his trombone as each wave is released), and our first runner, Lauren, got ready to head to the start line.

Once Lauren was off and running, we all rallied back to the van and headed to the next exchange point. Oof, due to lack of rain, the gravel roads were dusty!

The morning temps didn’t take long to warm-up. We all were careful to keep the hydration going and the donuts (and appropriate fuel) at the ready. We also were sure to keep each other entertained in between the various stops (and occasional u-turns).

Lauren amidst all the others crossing the start line (above left), Rachel handing-off the pseudo baton (slap bracelet) to Rachael (lower left), Nikki handing-off to Barb (on the right)

Meanwhile, I kept sipping on my water and had a couple of peanut butter rice cakes (with raspberry jam!) mid-morning. In all the years prior, I’d never had this late of a start in running my first leg of the relay. I’d estimated it to be around 11:30 when I’d have my turn, and I was close…it was just after 11:00 when Mary handed over the slap bracelet and I was on my way. 

Stage 8: from Linden to Redfield; 5.8 miles

Despite having taken part in the Relay seven other times, this was my first time running Stage 8. The map (below) didn’t look scary, and the elevation showed a mostly downward shift in terrain. As much as I love the sunshine (and heat), I was happy to have a lot of shade cover for the majority of my route. I didn’t have any grandiose plans as far as pace, so I just let my legs do their thing. Admittedly, things felt great that first mile, but when my Garmin showed an 8:51 split I almost gasped. Ugh, that’s way too fast in the heat, especially with nearly five miles remaining.  

The runners’ route is marked in green; the driving route (for the team vehicles) is in orange

I tried slowing my pace thereafter, and succeeded. The temps were feeling warm, but the breeze was gentle and there wasn’t any humidity to deal with. I remember the scent of lilacs …until the fifth mile. Ugh, there was a farm nearby, and the air was anything but fragrant as a result. I tried counting runners in an effort to distract myself (turns out I passed three runners and was passed by six others, LOL). I could definitely feel the incline changing as I started the fifth mile. When I reached the start of the sixth mile, the route had veered into the town of Redfield. A couple of turns, then an oppressive gravel hill awaited. I wish I would have taken a pic of it, but didn’t want to deal with my phone. Although I was still feeling pretty strong, I didn’t have any interest in conquering the steep gravel hill. I showed to a fast-paced hike and climbed my way to the top, then saw the exchange point a a couple blocks off in the distance. There was Lauren ready and waiting for the slap bracelet. Whew!

I was very pleased with how well those 5.83 miles went! My splints were 8:58, 9:10, 9:13, 9:08, 9:21 and 10:06; average pace of 9:16. I felt great, but I was a major hot sweaty mess, LOL. It was approaching 80F when I finished my run. I’m glad I had the foresight to bring along a water bottle, which was nearly empty after those miles.

 

First leg: done! 

With several hours before my next (and final) leg, I had plenty of time to regroup, refuel, and recharge.

Rachael handing-off to Nikki (upper left), Mary coming in (on the right), and then handing-off to me 

The heat kept rising, and we kept dealing with it…until late-afternoon. One of our gals came in, with assistance from one of the course volunteers. Barb and I ran over to help her. She was slurring her words, and started trembling as we helped her lie down on the grass. The volunteer called the paramedics, and they recommended getting her to the ER after assessing her condition. Thankfully, she was conscious, but we all were pretty scared given the situation. One of our teammates rode with her in the ambulance, and the rest of us met them at the ER a few minutes later.

Long story short, after some tests and hydration (via an IV), she’s was released. Obviously, the finish line didn’t matter at that point; we were just thankful she was fine.

So, M2M 2025 didn’t play-out like any of us could have imagined. And that’s all right. There were still plenty of fun memories from the day:

Rachel and I applying the necessary glitter freckles

The mandatory ride-the-retro-slide in Linden

The team’s free beers, which I’d gotten from packet pick-up…and were accidentally forgotten in my car (#MyBad)

The swag is always really nice! This year, in addition to the tech gender-specific shirts, we got M2M branded socks and a nice neck gaiter.

A few things to note:

***While there are numerous volunteers (and law enforcement personnel) monitoring the traffic, the relay course is an open course...so the runners really have to pay attention to signage when the route enters the final legs in Des Moines (there's a lot of pedestrian traffic, non-relay runners, and cyclists are in abundance).

***Each team is self-supported...we have to provide our own food, fuel and drink for the entire day

***This does make for a long day. We had a 6:30 wave start, but some teams started as early as 5:30 (based on projected finish times, etc.).

Alas, despite our teammate’s heat exhaustion situation, and our unexpected DNF, this still was a great day with a great group of gals! This event is top notch and is always a fun time. I guarantee we’ll be back in 2026!

Fresh-faced and fresh-legged; awaiting our wave’s 6:30 start time

Have you ever taken part in a team relay? Ever DNF’d a race? What’s the earliest you’ve had to wake-up and leave to make it to a start line?

I’m linking this with Zenaida and Jenn for the TuesdayTopics Linkup. 

By the way...are you following me on social media? 

Let's connect : Facebook Instagram  Pinterest Twitter