I flew out of Boston, MA to Fargo, ND!
I was in Boston for a science conference for work, so I had to fly out that Friday
I ran the 5K that morning for our conference fun run, so I had some steps!
Unfortunately, my connecting flight from Minneapolis was delayed by 3-4 hours, so I missed the Friday night 5K and expo
I ran into my friend for the Rehoboth Beach, DE marathon back in April and we decided to room together for this weekend. Fortunately, he was able to pick up my race gear since I would have missed the expo!
There were 3 race options Saturday morning
10K, half-marathon, marathon
The weather was on the warm side, but we mainly ran in the shade in the suburbs. Since we mainly ran in the suburbs, I felt like the scenery was gorgeous and beautiful.
There were a decent number of alcohol stops starting at the later half of the race (I stopped 5 times)
Since Fargo is a small town, I wasn't expecting that many spectators. I was very surprised since hundreds of people came out to see us run! I felt like the locals welcomed us because I felt the love!
Mark Knutson (the founder) died last year, so this was the first year without him. Additionally, there were flooding issues in the days prior to the marathon, so the course had to be altered a bit at the last minute.
There were LOTS of twists and turns, so it can be challenging to some people. On the plus side, it was like 99% flat with minor hills (less than 200 ft elevation gain)
We crossed the Red River of the North into Moorhead, Minnesota! Unfortunately, this was a very tight and small bridge, so we ran into the fast runners as they were returning back into North Dakota
We ran approximately 4-5 miles in Moorhead, but we had to run out-and-backs on the side streets, so that was somewhat boring. But at least spectators came out to see us!
Additionally, we ran through two college campuses, Minnesota State University of Moorhead and Concordia College. We had volunteers guide us through the campuses because it would've been confusing
Mile 19 was Mark's Mile, so there were lots of light posts on Seventh Street South dedicated to him
I ran this marathon because it was its 20th anniversary race! Additionally, I signed up the Governor's Cup in Montana the week afterwards, so I wanted to do both and knock them out!
My only major complaint is that the full, half, and 10K runners clashed with each other, so that was hard to navigate a bit
On a related note, the half marathoners started at 7, full marathoners started at 7:15, and the 10K runners at 7:25. I didn't like this breakdown since I feel like there should've been more of a break between distances. Or better yet, have the half and full marathoners start at the same time, then the 10K runners at a later time
This is a good race if you want to PR and/or BQ!
Race Website: Fargo Marathon
Some pictures around Fargo!
Some alcohol pictures!
Some pre and post-race pictures!