Brookings by Way of Omaha

Ever heard of Brookings, South Dakota? Well, I hadn’t—not until I saw the Brookings Marathon listing on MarathonGuide.com. I first noticed it during a past marathon season when I was hunting for a new race to add to my spring-summer itinerary. I couldn’t manage a flight to South Dakota that year, so I filed the listing away in my mental compartment “Potential Future Marathons.” There it waited for me until this year, when I pulled it out and started searching for flights on Expedia.

I’ve never been to South Dakota before, but I’ve crisscrossed the country south of it. On my several car trips between the East Coast and the West, I've followed I-80 the width of Nebraska. I remember sitting in a Nebraska motel dining room one morning grazing on the free Continental breakfast and looking at tourist brochures. This is what I think of when I think of South Dakota: photos of green prairies, wildflowers, and a buffalo. It looked enchanting, I thought. Romantic. Of course, that was back when I still preferred the empty vistas of Wyoming to the comforting steadiness of service signs on the eastern interstates.

I don’t expect to view South Dakota scenery the way I would have back then, but I like that my journey takes me back to Nebraska and that I get to head north to Brookings by car—almost as if I am making the detour I imagined when I saw the pictures on the brochure. The closest airport to Brookings is in Sioux Falls, but the cheaper flight options led to Omaha. When I arrive in Nebraska and pick up my rental car, it won’t likely be an experienced brown Chrysler that informs me its name is George. But I bet that old traveling companion will come to mind. George brought me to Omaha the first time, when I was keenly aware that every mile carried me deeper into the unknown. My situation feels less tenuous now; still, I like a little adventure. So finally, I get to leave I-80 and go north … chasing buffalo? Hmm, perhaps not in the marathon. Although I like the image of buffalo in anklets and running shoes.

Photo of an open prairie in South Dakota courtesy of TripAdvisor

Photo of members of the South Dakota welcome bureau courtesy of TripAdvisor