Minus Ten Review 2009-19

T.I.v5 volunteer, Darryl Pals, looks over the "Dirty Blue Box" at the start line.

Ten years ago this week I was retelling the details of the recently run T.I.v5 here on the blog. As I look over those memories, a couple things jump out at me.

First off, the thing that keeps sticking out is how many singular things kept this particular Trans Iowa very unique. It was the the only one that was started (near) in Williamsburg, obviously, but there is more than that which makes this Trans Iowa a very different one.

It's the only Trans Iowa which started outside the city limits of a town. The cemetery we started from was actually about a half a mile outside of Williamsburg. Even using the "official" city limits circa 2019, we were out of town. It was the only Trans Iowa that was run with three checkpoints- Washington, Iowa, LeGrand, Iowa, and Traer, Iowa were the three. (T.I.V6 was supposed to have three, but the event was stopped before we got to CP#3. T.I.v8 had an "unofficial CP", which was really just a resupply point due to the lack of overnight convenience store options on that route.)

It was the last Trans Iowa that we publicly announced where the checkpoints would be. This was a problem since support cars were showing up at checkpoints and the scene in LeGrand was pretty much the straw that broke the camel's back there.

Jeremy Fry at Checkpoint #3 during T.I.v5. Jeremy would go on to become a right hand man for me running T.I. in the future. Image by Paul Buchanan

But looking back, T.I.v5 was the first Trans Iowa I thoroughly enjoyed. The running of that one went so smoothly, it was just a ton of fun. Our volunteers that year were outstanding, and that helped a LOT. Having David and Daryl Pals help that year was another MAJOR factor in the smoothness of the event. In fact, it was so much fun, and went so well, that David and I actually agreed on the spot at the end of T.I.v5 to do a T.I.v6. I had never considered running a Trans Iowa right away like that. Also- it was sometime around T.I.v5 that I decided to make running 10 the goal and then to quit. So, at least publicly, I never committed so quickly to doing another T.I. again.