Heartland Relay...

• Heartland Relay:- Running Event

Roads Less Traveled Relays announces the inaugural Heartland Relay.  The Heartland Relay is a team running relay from (Just south of Des Moines) Winterset, Ia to Omaha, Ne.  The race is 205 miles featuring:

• 36 legs
• The Wabash Trace Trail
• The Longest Pedestrian Bridge - Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge
• Quiet Country Roads

 Teams of 12 runners or ultra teams of 6 runners take on this 24 hour running adventure through some of the most beautiful areas of Iowa finishing just over the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge on the Missouri River.

The relay starts just outside of Des Moines n the small town of Winterset. Winterset is the birthplace of John Wayne and is located in Madison County.

Much of the route follows dirt backroads crisscrossing the farmland as teams run towards Clarinda (the birthplace of Glenn Miller) and then to Blanchard, a small town just two blocks north of Missouri and the start of the rails-to-trails Wabash Trace Nature Trail, one of Iowa'as premier trails.

The Wabash Trace Trail winds through the scenic Iowa countryside for sixty-tree miles to the outskirts of Council Bluffs. The route will then take teams to Lake Manawa State Park, past the Western Historic Trails Center, and then to the Missouri River, where the last runner on the team will cross the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, finishing at Miller's Crossing and the big finish line party.