The final day of our trip was here, and the plan for the day was to explore County Clare, with the highlight being a stop at the famous Cliffs of Moher. I love a good city, but I think my favorite travel days are in the car roaming the countryside and soaking in as many…
2025 Running Trip – Ireland Part 4
It felt great waking up on Sunday morning following the big Cyclone victory. As we checked out of the hotel, I caught a glimpse of the Sunday Independent, decorated with some cardinal and gold on the front. Our journey for the day was to head due West, back across the country to explore Galway, another…
2025 Running Trip – Gameday in Dublin!
When I was a student at Iowa State, one of the best decisions I made was to study abroad in Wales for a term. During that life-changing experience, we saw many countries, including Ireland. The only problem, which probably wasn’t much of a problem in my early 20s, was that we selected Dublin on St….
2025 Running Trip – Ireland Part 2
Following our delayed flight and now limited timeframe, I made a conscious decision about my blog writing. Normally, I’ll get through the day’s travel, write the blog post that evening, post it the next morning, and then rinse and repeat until the trip is over. I decided that I would just focus on getting to…
2025 Running Trip – Ireland Part 1
When international travel is involved, sometimes a great plan can get flipped on its head very quickly. In the history of my Iron Phi running trip, I haven’t had any travel delays that have significantly altered the layout and flow of the trip. That all changed with this trip. Our flight path to Ireland was…
Will Run for Guinness (and a Good Cause) – The Iron Phi Running Trip Turns 10!
My running adventures over the years have been about more than just miles—they’ve been about meaning, memories, and leaving ALS better than I found it. This August 18-26, to celebrate the tenth year of the Iron Phi running trip, my wife Tillie and I, along with our friends (and fellow proud Iowa State Cyclones) Ryan…
2023 Running Trip – Lisbon, Portugal
It’s taken me three months to write this post. On a blog where the majority of the posts are finished within ten hours of it happening, publishing three months afterwards is a lifetime for me. Why? I think I’ve been reluctant to put a bow on what was a magical holiday vacation. Also, Lisbon gave…
2023 Running Trip – London, England
Christmas in London was the plan. I often find myself down the online travel content wormhole late at night, trying to find those nuggets of information I didn’t know I needed. After reading dozens of articles about the best cities for the holidays, it was obvious that a London holiday was going to be magical….
2023 Running Trip – Germany and Luxembourg
From Paris, we were set to spend four nights at the Spangdahlem Air Base. The base is situated in Western Germany, just under an hour east of Luxembourg, and a few hours west of Frankfurt and south of Cologne. To get there, we had our train tickets booked, and I was looking forward to the…
2023 Running Trip – Paris, France
There’s nothing quite like a European adventure, and besides Canada, the annual Iron Phi running trip had never ventured outside of North America. Until 2023. When Tillie and I learned about her sister’s move to Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, we knew that we needed to plan for some extended time with the Purdy family…
2023 Running Trip – Day 6 – Vancouver, British Columbia
After a picture-perfect weather day on Thursday, we woke up to Vancouver rain on Friday morning. Rain comes with the territory up here. Usually, it can be very unwelcoming on a trip like this, but it actually worked out nicely in this case. When I schedule two days in a city, I generally spend one…
2023 Running Trip – Day 5 – Vancouver, British Columbia
Thursday morning began early with a 5:45 a.m. wake up call. I wanted to make sure we left Seattle at a good time with a three hour drive in front of us to Vancouver. Vancouver has been at the top of our travel bucket list for many years, so Tillie and I were excited to…
A Good Run 