Dam to Dam Half Marathon – Des Moines, Iowa

The first Dam to Dam race was held on June 15, 1980 and was started by Des Moines runners with a desire for a great road race in their home city.

We will be running again this year but unfortunately, June 2, 2018 will be the last DAM race.  The community of runners, volunteers and race organizers will see the end of a wonderful tradition. The race started as 375 runners made their way from Saylorville Dam to downtown Des Moines.  With the addition of the 5 kilometer and youth runs the race now attracts 10,000 participants – this incredible growth, as I understand it, is one reason the race is being canceled as the organizers simply cannot find enough volunteers to pull off such a big event (I also understand while the \”Dam to Dam\” is going away a new, shorter race will take its place).

This is will be the 39th running of the race and during that time Des Moines\’ has turned into a thriving city bustling with activities every weekend of the year. We ran the race previously in 2015 while attending a family reunion and really had a great time visiting this under-rated and perhaps under-appreciated Midwest city. If the opportunity ever presented itself I could easily call Des Moines home.