The 2014 Iowa Market-to-Market Relay drew hundreds of people to downtown Jefferson on Saturday.

Increasing the number of the seven-person teams from 220 to 300 meant that there was over 2,100 people from all across Iowa and from 18 other states that ran in the 75-mile race on the Raccoon River Valley Trail to downtown Des Moines.

Team OFC from Oskaloosa didn’t run in the relay last year, but they heard about it from the Des Moines IMT half marathon and so they competed this year just to have fun and see if their team could do it.

That was the sediment for several other teams including a local team from Jefferson including City Administrator Mike Palmer, Jeff Lamoureux, Lisa Tingwald, Connie Tenaple and Nate Wenck from Carroll.

Palmer participates in about five half-marathons each year with a few 5K races as well.

He talks about some of the challenges with the race, having competed in it last year but that he’s very proud that Jefferson was the starting point of the relay.

“It is a little bit trying, especially near the end of the day when you’re in-and-out of the car at different times and people get a little bit tired.  But it’s nice to finish actually at the end of this race, the whole team runs together the last quarter mile.  What makes it really great is that Jefferson has been picked as the starting point of it.  That’s a lot of people coming through here and being exposed to Jefferson.”

Co-creator Ben Cohoon says this year race finished on Court Avenue Bridge in Des Moines.  The teams gather for the last quarter miles run together on Union Pedestrian Bridge and finished at el Bait Shop in Des Moines where they were treated to musical entertainment, food and fun.

The next Market-to-Market Relay Iowa is scheduled for Saturday, May 9, 2015.