Fargo Marathon Review

Race Review ...                                                       

Historic Fargo Theater

2011 Scheels Fargo Marathon

May 21, 2011  

Fargo, North Dakota
11th Marathon Completed
Overall Rating ... 3 out of 5 Bison

Spoiler Alert...

• Fargo is one of the most beautiful towns, and by far the friendliest that I've ever visited
• Good Expo with seamless packet pick-up
• A ton of very helpful and friendly volunteers
• North Dakota State University (NDSU) served as the perfect venue where we could warm-up in the Fargodome and then walk a few feet to the starting line without hassle
• Fantastic crowd support
• About 63 degrees during the race with approx 80% humidity, a little warm
• A lot of the streets were muddy & slippery from recent flooding, and there were literally 95 different turns on the course ... tough to find a running rhythm but it wasn't an issue 
• So far so good right ... WORST COURSE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE POST-RACE I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED!!!

Finisher Medal...

First medal I've ever received with two Bible verses printed on it.  "Let us run with perserverance the race that is marked out for us" Herews 12:1 on the front.   And "I can do all things (through Christ who strengthens me). Phillippians 4:13 on the back. Pretty cool!

Fargo, North Dakota...

Fargo Train Station

I don't ever remember being in such a beautiful and friendly small town.  When I say small, keep in mind that Fargo has a population of about 105,000 residents.  But everyone I talked to and interacted with had a small-town "How ya doin'?" charm.  Heck, I was driving the course on Friday night and I pulled over at a stop sign to check the map, and all the sudden a local guy pulled up beside me with his window down and asked, "You need help findin' somethin'?"  Seriously ... there are people like that left in the world?  Well, apparently in Fargo, it's just a way of life!

It's incredibly easy to get around Fargo with clearly marked streets.  One thing that struck me about this "big" small town was many of the streets didn't have center lines or stop signs.  It seemed that everyone was simply on the honor system when it came to driving.

Downtown Fargo boasts many "mom & pop" bars & restaurants, as well as the historic Fargo Theater, which was built in 1925 and still has the original marquee in place.  The Amtrak Train Station was build by The Great Norther Railway in 1920.  Fargo is also the home of the beautiful North Dakota State University campus.  And seemingly every mid-town street is tree-lined just like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.  It has an unbelievable "homey" feel and was a pleasure to visit.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.



Race Expo...

My best Jim Halpert face,
"Hmmm, Fargodome ehhhh?"

The race Expo was held on the floor of the Fargodome, the athletics arena for NDSU.  It is also where the marathon began and ended.  I arrived in the afternoon on Friday and was greeted by several volunteers pointing me in the right direction, rounding up my packet, and answering any last minute questions I had. 

Although the race was sponsored by Scheels Sporting Goods, there was also a Boston Marathon-sized Adidas store set up with a ton of Fargo Marathon gear for every race being held that weekend - 5K, 10K, Half-Marathon, and Marathon.  I bought an extra t-shirt (because I don't have enough race t-shirts already), and got the girls a couple of running shirts.  It seems like the more race Expos I attend, I see the same vendors over and over.  This one was no different.  It was big and easy to access, but nothing really new that I hadn't seen before.

Front doors at the Expo

The SWAG was moderate at best with an nice Adidas mini-backpack that also doubled as a gear-check bag, a half-zip long-sleeve pullover, race bib, laminated bag-tag and timing chip.  The pullover was pretty cool, although the color ... bright green ... is not really me.  But I'll probably wear it for pre-dawn runs as a safety vest.  Also the orange and blue bag can be used at the gym from time-to-time or as an airplane carry-on.  The pre-numbered bag-tag had to be attached to one of the loops of the Adidas bag.  I prefer stickers for this application, but it wasn't very practical with a fabric bag.

The bag was great on race day because it didn't fall apart like some of the flimsier plastic bags they often give you at these things.  It was a little small for all the gear I wanted to check, but all-in-all it was a nice "gift".  "Gift" being something we had already paid for in the $80 race fee a few months back.

That Bison stole my credit!

One thing that got a little weird was a little misunderstanding that just about went down between me and a stuffed Bison, the NDSU mascot.  Yeah, he was stuffed ... but he was staring a hole through me.  "Look man, I'm a Mizzou Tiger ... deal with it.  I don't mean to disrespect you in your own crib, but you gotta give me some room and back-up off me!"  Okay, that was all fake.  I'm an idiot.  But I swear his eyes were moving. (At this point, I fully admit that I was probably the only grown man taking pictures of HIMSELF with stuffed animals.  I like pictures in my posts ... sue me!)

Lodging

Rainy Friday

I stayed at the beautiful and luxurious Red River Lodge right off of I-29.  I had no problem with the "hotel", but I don't think I could have got Michael to stay there ... she's 5 stars baby!  But it was clean and the staff was very courteous.

The hotel actually called me several months ago to offer me a race-day breakfast bag and shuttle service to the race, which I accepted.  I was a little disappointed to find out when I got there that all of the marathoners were made the same offer.  Gee ... I thought it was just for me.

On race day, a school bus doubling as a shuttle to the race start picked us up at 5:30am.  It was awesome.  Even though the Fargodome was only about 3 miles from the hotel, I just left my car parked all day and relied on them for transportation.  After the race, they were ready and waiting to take us back.  This made things a lot less stressful and it was a wonderful service!

It was raining all day Friday and I was a little worried the race was going to be soggy, but it was mostly dry all day on Saturday with only a few sprinkles.  But with the "higher" temps at race time, I think all the runners would have welcomed a few rain drops.

Race & Course

Beautiful tree-lined neighborhoods

Okay, this is where I might get a little testy - I'm still not really happy with the way the weekend ended.  I arrived at the Fargodome at about 5:45am.  It was a wonderful setup.  Runners could hangout in the the warmth and dryness of the arena until race time.  There were even padded chairs around some of the arena suites which were better than the typical concrete sidewalk I usually perch myself on until making my way to the starting line.

I had made plans to meet Chris and Maia of Reasons To Run.  They were of course really cool people.  We took the obligatory blogger pic and chatted a while before I headed off to stretch.  I actually ran into Maia after the race and I think she said she did well, but I was still pretty pissed about the race, so sorry Maia, I can't remember for sure.

Maia & me before the race,
Chris on cam

As the start of the race got closer, I dropped my gear bag in conveniently placed carts by the front door and headed to the starting line.  It was misting a little, but you could tell it was clearing up somewhat.  I think it was about 63 degrees at the start of the race, but it was incredibly humid.  I was wearing two shirts, which I usually do.  But during the first mile, I actually stripped down while running and took the undershirt off- ha, never broke stride baby!  I dropped it at the 1 mile marker and forgot to go back and get it later.  It was my favorite undershirt so I was kinda bummed ... oh well.

During the first few miles, I knew this was not going to be easy.  It was one of those days where my legs felt really heavy and sluggish.  Also, some of the streets were still covered with river mud from recent flooding, which made footing a little slippery at times.  I kept my planned race pace until mile 23, but it was really a grind.  I just never really ran free and easy today.

Seriously, 95 turns???

The course was not great.  It WAS flat as a pancake and took the runners through the beautiful parts of Fargo, including the picturesque tree-lined residential streets, but as mentioned before, this area had recently been hit by flooding, and apparently they had altered the course somewhat to accommodate the water-logged areas.  The result was 95 turns.  95!!!  You literally changed direction 95 times.  I'm serious ... look up the course on line and count them yourself.  It was incredibly tough to build any kind of momentum or get into a groove.  Also, there were two substantial out-and-backs, which most marathoners are not a fan of.  I've never designed a race course, but I've designed hundreds of long runs in my relatively small town and I honestly don't think there is ever a NEED for an out-and-back in a marathon course.  That being said, the course was not the issue.  I'm sure the coordinators were working with what they had available to them.

Cluster at post-race

At about mile 15 or 16, we were joined by the half-marathoners.  This happens in a lot of races, but usually not for the last 10 miles of the marathon.  To put it bluntly ... IT WAS A NIGHTMARE!!!  There were about 6,000 half'ers in the race who started a half-hour after the marathoners, and they were VERY congested.  It was impossible to run the tangents, which was preferable with so  many turns.  Many of them were walking, and all of them stopped in the middle of every waterstop.  There was NO WAY to maintain a pace without expending energy to maneuver around them or through.  I ran into 5 half-marathoners, was cut off by another 3 or 4, and had to skip 2 of the last few water stops.  I know everyone runs at a different pace, but during the last few miles of a marathon, focus is imperative.  Unfortunately, the complete focus was on avoiding them.  I feel in know way that it was the half-marathoners fault.  They were just running the race assigned to them.  Some could have been a little more courteous and aware of their surroundings, but that happens in every race.

After the race, I talked to literally 13 or 14 marathoners ... and they were PISSED!!! About 10 of them were vowing to write letters to the race coordinator complaining about the situation.  But it only got worse from there.

As you crossed the finish line, there was NO ONE WAITING to direct you to water, food, or medals.  Plus, as you can see by the photo, people were bunched together, not moving.  So with your legs aching, heart pounding, and your feet ready to take a load off ... you stood in line for about 15-20 minutes just waiting with thousands of other people - similar to the conditions typical to the start of a big race.  Shoulder to shoulder with nowhere to move.  In addition, I had to ask about 3 people where to pick-up my marathon medal until I found someone who pointed me in the direction I needed to go.

I ran a "disappointing" 3:22:52.  NOT disappointing because of the finishing time ... all-in-all, it's a good time for me, and although it's not Olympic speed or anything, I know I'm blessed to run as fast as I do - today I finished in the top 10% of my age group and I couldn't be happier! The disappointment was because I felt like I left time on the clock.  But understand, I WAS THE ONE WHO LEFT THE TIME ON THE CLOCK!!!  (More on that in my race performance review in a few days.)  The conditions were not great, but the reason I did not PR was because of me, and me alone.   It had nothing to do with the slippery streets, high and humid temps, or thousands of half-marathoners bottle-necking the course ... I will never use external excuses for my performance.  The bottom line is I was just not good enough to PR today.  But that's okay, I know I can't run "the race of my life" every time out. 

Great ... 6 more weeks
of another black toenail!

Somehow I also ended up with another black toenail after the race (ring finger toe).  I guess my sock must have been a little tight, although I didn't notice until after the race.  This was a little frustrating, because my previous black toenail on my middle toe had just recently regenerated a new nail.  (My toenails look really dirty in this photo, but I promise you that even though my toes are really ugly, they are hygienically sound!) 

Even though the end of the race, and post-race were the worst I have ever experienced ... all-in-all the weekend was awesome.  I would highly recommend this race to other runners for the total experience.  The gaffs at the end can be easily fixed ... but they really need to be addressed before next year.  Ginny from Happy Feet 26.2 commented the other day "Enjoy the moment! Any day you complete a marathon is an excellent day." ... and you know what, she's exactly right.  At the end of the day I completed my 11th marathon, and it feels pretty good to mark another state off of the list!
... be great today!