Fort Dodge High School Teacher and Coach Challenges Students to Take On Dam to Des Moines Half Marathon

(Alpha Media- Brooke Bickford) In 2009 Blake Utley was given a book that inspired him to start a class 

at the Fort Dodge Senior High School that pushes students out of their comfort zones and across a finish line.

The half marathon class is a PE credit option for students that begins with day to day training and ends with students successfully completing a half marathon.

Although school has been out for a week, Utley will be taking nine students to Des Moines this weekend where they will run in the Dam to Des Moines race.

Utley says there is nothing like the feeling of seeing students cross the finish line.

For many of the students, this Saturday’s Dam to Des Moines will be their second half marathon and Utley says he hopes the students carry the feeling of accomplishment they gain from running 13.1 miles throughout their lives.