Great event.Where else do you get a backpack and a long-sleeve tech shirt. The finisher medal is a work of art. This whole race is so well organized from start to finish. Great pasta feed and expo. It is nice to start and finish at the Fargodome. I think this race is so good, as they really care about the runners. Ok, so the weather was not too great, but better than having temps over 80 F. I only did the half, but I would recommend it to all Manitoba runners. Unfortunately, Fargo spoils us. Fargo, you guys rock.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of the organizers and supporters in Fargo! I loved the whole experience. I stayed with my family in the NDSU residence apartments across the street from the Fargodome, and would recommend that. The food and the timing of the race all worked out well for me, and I came in at 4:28. Like the others, though, I wondered about the staggered start: why did the marathoners not start first?

Fargo is quite an interesting place, and it made for a great marathon experience. There is a sense of local pride, a tightly-knit community that resonated all through the race weekend.

First, the course: great, as advertised, and both flat and fast. I enjoyed the route; it was fun to run through the various residential areas and the business district, and the start and finish at the Fargodome were terrific. I did have a little trouble with the uneven street pavement through much of the course. I think the winter weather beats up the streets, so you do have to stay a bit focused on the ground not to turn an ankle.

Organization was very good. The only area for improvement is the bus transportation to the start. There needed to be more buses getting runners from the West Acre Mall to the Fargodome - although I got to the mall pretty early, I did not get to the dome until about 7:40. The half marathoners on the bus were late. I felt bad for them. The expo was nicely organized, and lived up to the write-up in RW (we got wonderful schwag - I just love the long-sleeve race shirt).

The best: the fans. Since I usually do these races alone (working on 50 states), so I am more used to seeing others get cheered on by family/friends, Team-in-Training supporters, etc. I never feel like any of it is for me, but in Fargo, it was so cool to have people cheer me on. At first I was certain that the encouragement was for the person next to me, but when I was alone, out of the pack, and still getting the cheers, I realized these are just nice, friendly people who are quite proud of their marathon. I have to say, the only other marathon I have run with more fan support is Boston. Many thanks to all of the people that got out there for the runners; I hit the wall so very hard at mile 20, and the encouragement kept me going.

Other note: I did not like to sports beverage. It got me pretty queasy, and I ended up racing to the porta-johns at miles 22 and 24, which whacked my time. I paced to a near PR all the way through about mile 18 when the bad reaction to the drink set in. Everyone has their preferences; this one was too sweet and blue for my liking. I miss the days when Gatorade was the only game in town.

So last comments, and to end on the positive note: this is a wonderful race, and I have to offer my thanks both to the race director and team, as well as the community of Fargo. To the staff at the hotel I stayed at - La Quinta - thank you as well; what wonderful hospitality (and a nice, new, clean hotel). I left Fargo with some terrific memories, and North Dakota crossed off of the list!

I partially agree with some of the other critiques of the race. I ran the full marathon and I, too, really think the marathon should have started earlier. With unpredictable spring weather, an earlier start is safer for avoiding heat-related illness. I was not thrilled with the conditions of the roads, either. I understand that roads in northern states are subject to freezing/thawing; however, I believe it is possible to plan to use bike paths or newly paved roads with fewer potholes.

Now, on to the good stuff. The fans were outstanding. Really great. Positive vibes were everywhere. This is a city that loves its marathon. The NDSU dormitory accommodations were also top-notch and quite a bargain at $50/night (we split between 3 and were comfortable). The Fargodome is a great place to have all the events and made logistics easy, especially being that the dorms are only 4 blocks away. I had no problem getting food with my 3:47 finish, but my friend who finished in 4:16 had to wait in line for a long time. An easy solution would be to form 2 lines around the refreshment tables. There was an adequate number of porta-lets and aid stations, and the roads were clearly marked. I think this is a small, growing marathon that just needs to work out a few details.

I have run this half marathon twice and it has been a great experience! Great fans, and a flat and fast course!

I also ran the 5K the Friday before. I wish they would have the walkers and people with strollers start after the runners. It was a little unorganized but great fun. Good job, Fargo!

Great town, great volunteers and fans, well-organized race, and an overall great experience.

Positives:

- Easy packet pickup, adequate expo, helpful volunteers

- Fairly-priced pasta and lefse feed; great speakers during dinner - Dean Karnazes and Kathleen Wrigley (marathoner who has survived a brain aneurysm)

- The Fargodome is a great place for the start and the finish: there were plenty of restrooms, and we the ability to stay out of the elements before and after the race

- Very nice course: flat, and lots of variety (neighborhoods, downtown, college campus, parks)

- Fabulous traffic control

- Awesome aid station volunteers, called out "PowerAde," "water," "GU"

- Friendly, encouraging fans. They were cheering for everyone, and lots stuck around for us back-of-the-packers.

- Organizers asked people living along the course to set up sprinklers/hoses when hot weather was forecast. It didn't get as hot as predicted, but they sure felt good anyway!

- Very fun to finish at the Fargodome - you see yourself on the big screen!

- Nice selection of post-race food - especially the cups of chocolate-chip cookie dough!!! I have never seen that before, and if I hadn't been slightly nauseated, I would have had more than one.


Negatives (not enough to keep me from doing Fargo again):

- A lot of concrete - tougher on the legs than asphalt

- Marathon start time. I understand the logistics of current start times, but seems like it makes more sense to send off those who will be out there the longest first. If predicted temps had been reached, it would have been brutal to be out there for 4-6 hours.

Overall, loved Fargo and would love to go back!

I enjoyed the trip to Fargo, and the race. The weather didn't cooperate the whole race, but the first two hours were good (a little rain for the first hour, a perfect second hour, and then the sun came out). Plenty of water and PowerAde on the course, and a lot of spectators cheering you on (even despite the rain). About a half-mile into the race I thought, "Oh, neat, someone has sparklers!" It took a few seconds to realize a live power line had been sliced by a falling tree branch and was shooting sparks onto the course. There was a mildly panicked crush to the right away from the dangling wires blowing in the wind. Scary stuff, but cool to see, given that no one was hurt.

Great race! This town really knows how to host a marathon. Organization was great from start to finish. Locals, including cab drivers, hotel, spa and restaurant personnel were friendly and welcoming. The course was great, pasta dinner was yummy and entertaining and use of the Fargo Dome all weekend was outstanding. The one improvement I would make would be to move the marathon to the 7:00 start and have the half and 10K start afterward. An early start for the marathoners would have really helped this year!!

I was so impressed by the fans throughout the race. As a back-of-packer, it was so nice to have their support long after many were finished. The course is nice enough and flat, but what really made the race for me was the finish in the Fargodome. The spectators were able to be very close and were so loud, which made the last 100 yards seem like a breeze! I also liked the staggered starts for the 10K, half marathon, and full marathon. It didn't seem as congested as other starts. My only complaint was parking around the Fargodome - it was hard to figure out where to park, and we ended up paying for parking when we didn't need to.

I was impressed with this marathon not just for the organizatinal details (Starbucks coffee at the starting line, use of FargoDome facilities, etc.), but the overall community involvement.

This is a big event for Fargo; banners welcoming runners were all over town, there was media attention, and there were lots of friendly people who helped guide us out-of-towners around town. There were "official" water stops but also many unofficial water/fruit stations. Jolly Ranchers everywhere! There were "official" bands (Irish, Scandinavian, square dancing even) but everyone with a trumpet, trombone, or cowbell was out there too. "More cowbell" was the motto. I liked how they used tractors to block off intersections for the runners! I constantly heard, "We are glad you came!"

An organizational glitch, perhaps due to their unprecedented number of runners this year, was congestion and confusion caused by the head-to-head meeting of the half marathoners a few miles into the full marathoner course (the halfers started earlier and the early miles were not segregated).