IMT Des Moines Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K

Considered an excellent half-marathon (as well as full marathon) for first-time participants, the Des Moines race features an out-and-back course that starts and finishes in front of the Des Moines Civic Center on 3rd Street.
From there, runners follow the first mile east toward the state capitol building, and then turn southward and then westward for the remainder of the course, which flows through downtown along Walnut Street toward the Waterworks Park area, and around Grays Lake just to the east of the park.
Once participants make their way around the lake, they’ve entered the final stretch of the race, which takes them along Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway back toward the finish line at the plaza.
Thanks in part to its downtown location and the stretches of the race that wind through the city’s parkland areas, the course is largely fast and flat, with plenty of urban scenery as well as tree-lined park roads and open green spaces to fill your field of vision as you make your way to the finish. The race also is made up of paved surfaces throughout.