The Inside Story Behind the Next Great Des Moines Event
On the night I asked Lisa to marry me I proposed a seemingly outrageous idea — If the two-year anniversary of our first date, November 10, 2001, fell on a Saturday we should get married then. It was an outrageous idea because we had never even discussed getting married until I proposed, and November 10th was just six months away. Swept up in the moment she agreed, so we walked out to her car, checked her calendar and saw November 10th did indeed fall on a Saturday. Any uncertainty about the idea of a hastily planned wedding vanished when we shut the car door, looked up and saw the marquee on the small town movie theater: “Sweet November” starring Keanu Reaves. The marquee for that terrible movie was a sign to us both our wedding date was set.
With all the uncertainties in life, sometimes we have take notice when the stars align and a plan falls into place.
This past April I was feeling uneasy. I was about three months into my new role as Executive Director of Above + Beyond Cancer and I was still finding my way around the organization and our members, many of whom have been a part of ABC since it was founded in 2011 by Dr. Dick Deming, the Director of the Mercy Cancer Center.
My unease stemmed from the fact that I seemed to learn something new about Above + Beyond Cancer every day. We have a van? We are doing an Ironman in Colorado? You want to take a group of cancer survivors to circumambulate Mount Kailash in Tibet? What does circumambulate mean?
Above + Beyond Cancer is a cancer survivorship non-profit well known for taking cancer survivors and caregivers on journeys to places like Everest Basecamp and the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. While we are known for our transformational journeys, anyone who follows our organization is aware that we also organize teams of survivors and caregivers for local races ranging from the Halloween Hot Chocolate Race to the Des Moines IMT marathon.
This is an impressive group doing impressive things, and being in charge of it felt daunting. The more I learned about our trips, our mission and our people, the more convinced I was that we needed to be a part of a signature community event that represented the Above + Beyond brand — part adventure, part athletic competition, and part community spirit.
But what event? While I have experience in public relations, writing budgets and raising money, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about organizing adventures. I made it clear to Dr. Deming before taking the job that a typical adventure for me is fishing from a canoe on a windy day, and my athletic accomplishments involve running (aka shuffling) to Bruce Springsteen for about three miles, or until my iPhone dies, whichever comes first.
Following a meeting with our Above + Beyond Cancer cycling team I was chatting with one of the team members, Randy Reichardt, in the parking lot and sharing with him my desire to put together some kind of community journey that encapsulates the ABC spirit we find in the Himalayas.
“Maybe some sort of adventure race?”
“You know, the Water Works Park foundation is wanting to do more of these type of events at the park, and I’m on the board of the foundation,” replied Randy. He mentioned getting some other park foundation board members together to figure out a plan. “You should reach out to Brad Argo with Argo Adventures, I think he has also wanted to do something like this.”
Within a week of that conversation with Randy I was pitching the foundation board on the idea of using the unique Water Works Park features — the river, beautiful trails and well-paved road — to allow the community to escape on some sort of exciting journey for a couple hours on a Saturday.
They were sold and liked the idea of an adventure race through the park.
One member suggested the race should culminate with either a massive bonfire, or have city residents and businesses agree to a blackout so race participants and spectators could clearly see the stars. Bold ideas were flying, but I still needed to find someone who actually knew how to manage a race, so I called Brad Argo and we set up a meeting.
Brad knows Water Works Park inside and out and within minutes we agreed on a canoe, trail run, road bike formate for the race. His outfitting company, Argo Adventures, would generously supply the canoes at no cost so the proceeds of the race would got to Above + Beyond Cancer. He would also call Steve Oberbroeckling to manage the race. Steve has helped with adventure races in Boone, Iowa and understood the ins and outs of managing volunteers and keeping tabs on racers’ times.
Part of the beauty of using Water Works Park is the race is entirely self-contained in an urban park, so utilizing local police to close streets, a huge expense for festivals and races, is unnecessary. However, we did need to find a sponsor to provide seed money for insurance, marketing, porta-potties and various equipment deposits. We estimated that we needed $5,000, and we needed it fast because the only way to lock in a date with Water Works Park was to secure the necessary insurance and pay the $250 deposit. This meant I needed to call in our big gun — Johnny Danos.
“What do you need this for again?” asked Johnny, our wry Cajun ABC board member with a Rolodex and charm that makes him one of the best non-profit fundraisers in the state. “The Great American Super Race?”
“No, we are calling it the DSM Adventure Race.”
“Right, how much do you need for the Amazing Race?”
“It’s the DSM Adventure Race, and we need $5,000.”
“$5,000 for the Great Race with Canoes. Alright, give me a week.”
“OK, and it’s the DSM Adventure Race.”
“Sounds good.”
Who knows how he actually pitched the race or what he called it, but as promised Johnny delivered an enthusiastic titled sponsor in West Bank, and the race is now set for October 10th.
Our goal is to have 100 teams of two compete in the race, a two-mile canoe, a four-mile trail run and eleven-miles of road cycling. With more than 50 teams signed up to date we are halfway to goal, and Steve is pretty confident we’ll sell out.
Regardless, the stars aligned in short time and I don’t need a movie theater marquee to convince me this race was meant to be. One of the best urban parks in the country, combined with a passionate team and worthy cause makes me think the race this year will be the first of many.
Be a part of history and sign up for the DSM Adventure Race today at www.DSMAdventureRace.com
