Fargo Half Marathon

Fargo, North Dakota

Saturday, May 18, 2019

On Saturday, May 18, 2019 I race walked the Fargo Half Marathon in Fargo, North Dakota.  It was not a very nice day for the event as the temperature varied from 45 to 48 degrees with winds of 20-25 mph having gusts to 35 mph with continuous rain and drizzle. The course was almost entirely flat on city streets that were completely closed to traffic.  Police and volunteers controlled the cross traffic ensuing that the 3375 finishers in the half marathon were safe.  There was also a full marathon, a marathon relay and a 10K.  There were about 4500 entries in the half marathon so many decided to skip the event.  I am sure the other events also experienced many non-shows.  It was also quite obvious that some of the volunteers did not show up; however, the water/Powerade stations which were located between 1 and 3 miles apart had enough volunteers to function reasonably well.  A few of the stations had to poor the water and leave the cups on the tables for the participants to pick-up, but every station was functioning and I really appreciate the volunteers that showed up and allowed to event to occur.  Surprisingly there were quite a few spectators along the course that either had raingear or erected a tent or cheered from their garages and porches.  Most of the places where music was supposed to occur were functioning from under tents or in garages.  This was the 15^th year for this event and I have done it 5 times.  One unique thing about this event for the last three years is that the start and finish are in the Fargodome; thus, the participants did not have to wait for the start while standing in the rain.  The only bad thing about the indoor start is that GPS watches cannot locate satellites until after one leaves the indoors.  The event actually began on Monday, May 13, 2019.  There was a bicycle race on Monday, a dog event on Tuesday, a health walk on Wednesday, kid’s runs on Thursday, and a 5K on Friday.  The event is very well organized and fun.

The Course

The Exposition

Before The Race

After The Race