Iowa Wolves game at Wells Fargo Arena will feature an indoor marathon

What if?

What if the Iowa Wolves held an exhibition indoor marathon during a game, thought Chip Albright, the team's vice president of marketing.

On Wednesday, Albright's vision will be realized when four veteran central Iowa runners will start running the first of 111 laps around the upper concourse of Wells Fargo Arena before and during the Wolves' basketball game with the Birmingham Squadron.

"We thought hosting a marathon the last week of our season would be a fun metaphor for celebrating the long grind of an NBA G League season and being able to work with DMOS and the IMT Des Moines Marathon in this capacity was something we couldn’t turn down," Albright said. "It will be fun to watch."

The runners will be: Jan Atchison, 64, of Rhodes; Dennis Haney, 55, of Des Moines; Kiersten Hathaway, 47, of Clive; and Bruce Huckfeldt, 42, of Waukee. The four have combined for nearly 150 marathons, with Atchison and Haney both having achieved completing a marathon in all 50 states. The expectation is for all four to stagger their starts based on ability to finish their marathons close to the end of the Wolves game, which should be at approximately 9:15 p.m. The first runner will begin at 4:30.

"You float the idea to some runners who are up for some creative challenges and we had some takers pretty quickly," Albright said. "They wanted to make sure they walked it and know what they were getting into. Once they were able to do that (they said), 'yeah, we got this.' "

Fans attending the game will have a location to cheer on the runners as the four navigate the nearly quarter-mile-length concourse on the 300 level. Cowbells and signs will be available for fans to cheer on the runners. Fans can also buy a special ticket sponsored by DMOS Orthopaedic Centers that includes a howl towel.

The plan for an indoor marathon likely wouldn't have occurred so soon if not for a chance encounter Albright had weeks ago with Chris Burch, longtime race director of the IMT Des Moines Marathon, at a coffee shop west of downtown.

"I was going to pocket the idea because there is so many logistics in it and a lot of other things we are doing, but I walked into Smokey Row after waking up with it (the idea), and I saw Chris Burch in line," Albright said. " 'I have to mention something to you and just gauge your reaction?' 'OK.' 'What if we run an indoor marathon at Wells Fargo Arena?' 'Oooh, that's interesting.' And away we went. He took it to his board and they said, 'yeah, let's do this.' "

"From my perspective, it was let's give it a go," Burch said. "I thought about starting with my marathon race committee and I was able to find a few who are in training for a spring marathon."

Burch conducted some research into indoor marathons at arenas and found several have been held on college campuses. However, none have been conducted since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The Armory in New York City has hosted an individual indoor marathon as recently as 2019, when American CJ Albertson broke the world record after completing 211 laps around a 200-meter track.

Burch believes this will be the first marathon held during a professional basketball game and it will certainly be the first held at Wells Fargo Arena.

This won't be the first indoor marathon held within Des Moines' city limits, though. A small group of runners completed over 300 laps on the small Drake Fieldhouse track in 1988 as a fundraiser to buy a van for Drake University freshman wrestler Tim Ascherl. Ascherl suffered permanent paralysis during a match at Oklahoma State in December of 1987.

Burch has measured the concourse multiple times with a measuring wheel after finding out "early on that modern technology like GPS doesn't work in a modern arena." He came up with an average and the full marathon distance came out to 111 full laps and an an additional tenth of a lap.

Each runner will have an individual counting their laps and DMOS, an IMT Des Moines Marathon sponsor, will be providing a fluids table for them. Burch has hired True Time Racing Services to time the runners.

Burch indicated that the four runners will decide amongst themselves if they will switch directions and how many times it will occur. Running in one direction for an entire 26.2-mile distance can be harmful to athletes' knees, ankles and other joints because of the repetitive motion traveling around the same corners at the same angles.

Albright and Burch envision teaming up to hold another indoor marathon tied to a Wolves game, possibly in conjunction with the opening of registration for the IMT Des Moines Marathon. Holding the marathon near the mid-October date of the IMT race isn't possible because the Wolves' season starts typically in early November. Both men want to complete this event first before mapping out a future marathon.

"We'll see how this goes and see how the runners enjoy it, I think more than anything," Albright said. "The timing now is kind of fun to tell people, hey, it's a good time to get in shape for the (IMT) marathon if you're thinking about doing that.

"And the broader, bigger point that we can make to the whole market is if you come to our games, you're going to get in a lot of steps. If you walk our concourse a few times, you've walked a mile."

The marathon is part of an evening of promotions that includes Hoops and Howls Night, where fans can bring their dog and a portion of their ticket will go back to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa. The game also will be part of an ag week celebration assisting the Iowa Food and Family Project. Doors will open at 6 p.m., with the game starting at 7.

By then, the four runners no doubt will be in a full sweat.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Wolves game at Wells Fargo Arena will feature an indoor marathon