Des Moines Corporate Games: Cross Country race recap

There’s a first time for everything, even in the world of running.

A new such first, in my little world, was doing a cross-country race. Not only was it a traditional cross-country race, exclusively on grass, but it also was part of the on-going Des Moines Corporate Games. 

This is my first time working for a participating company, and these Corporate Games have been so much fun! I’ve done the bike ride and also the fitness walk (though, I did the walk “virtually,” but my 10K run counted towards my team’s participation points). 

Now it was time to lace-up the running shoes…

A unique feature of this particular event was its location: on the Iow State University Cross Country course, in Ames (about 30 miles north of Des Moines).

First of all, let’s chat about the race day conditions. By the time the start of the race arrived, the temps were sitting at 75F. The air was crazy humid. And the freshly-mowed “course” was still laden with dew. This was going to be interesting! 

There were five of us repping the company.

The “before” pic: Isaac, Kaleb, Angela (our team’s captain), myself, and Aaron

I honestly had no idea what to expect, but was eager to give this gig a go. I didn’t have any grandiose expectations, either, on finish time. I knew the cross country race course was relatively flat, but there would be still proabably be some rolling hills to keep us humble.

I was surprised for the very casual race start. We all lined up, and they said “Go!” The only timing mat to cross would be at the finish line.

Ready to line up!

Right out of the gate (figuratively speaking, LOL), I knew this race would be a challenge. The grass was a little slippery, and the crowd of runners was pretty clustered. The first mile was a loop around the “small” section of the race course. Did I mention there were two small inclines within the first 1/4-mile? 

It seemed like a lot of runners started out fast, or at least seemed much faster than me. The muggy conditions were a benefit in that I had no desire to keep up with the fast-starters, especially in the first mile. By the time I was coming around the bend, near the first mile mark, I’d already noticed several people walking. I was grateful to have held back and not pushed my pace so soon.

The second mile was very similar to the first mile, only the back half had us taking a little detour, and running a wider loop of the course. This part of the race blessed us with a little bit of shade, so that helped with managing the heat from the bright sunshine.  

The route was still blessing us with intermittent shade when we hit the 2-mile mark. The route had also blessed us with a few more rolling inclines as well (lucky us!). 

As we made our way back towards the start line (for the third time) and the eventual finish line, we had a mini loop that took us another 1/4-mile or so out before coming back towards the actual timing mat. Full disclosure, I did walk a few times in the second mile, and once or twice in the final mile. I was able to grit it out, though, in the final stretch to the finish line. 

And, let me tell you, it felt great to finish! As much as I like the heat, the humidity can be a bear at times. Kaleb had already finished, so he and I hung out for a few minutes and waited for the rest of the team to come in.

…and “after pic: myself, Kaleb, Angela, Aaron, and Isaac

 My splits were 9:23 (a HUGE surprise!), 10:06, 9:56, and 8:34 (that final kick in the remaining .13 mile). 

After cooling off for a few minutes, we made our way to the results tent to see how our team had done. Three of us placed in our age divisions, so that was nice (more points scored for Team LCS!).

1st place for myself; third place for Kaleb; 2nd place for Angela

Since I’d gotten the first place honors, they wanted a pic with the championship sign, LOL.My stats showed in addition to the 1st place AG (out of only three, so don’t be too impressed), I also finished 12th out of the 51 women runners and 102nd overall, out of the 184 total runners.

There wasn’t any event swag, but most teams were sporting company-logo’d gear. That being said, it was fun seeing the various companies that were represented!

my ankles and lower legs were a mess form all the wet grass 

Final thoughts…

This was a fun adventure! I think it’s always a good move to try new things, and this cross-country race fit the bill. BTW, our company’s corporate team is still leading in our division (based on company size, number of employees, etc.).

Have you ever done a cross-country race? Ever participate in a similar friendly competition amongst other corporations?

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

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