May 2, 2024
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☰
Fargo Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Fargo Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.4 
Organization 4.6 
Spectators 4.6
Number of comments: 388 [displaying comments 41 to 51]
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D. H. from Southfield, MI
(5/10/2015)
 "Good almost Great" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Overall, the Fargo Marathon met my expectations. The volunteers are energized and friendly. There is very good crowd support, as expected for a local race. Staggering the marathon, half marathon, and 10K 30 minutes apart is a good idea, although the marathon winner ran into the 10K runners as the marathon and 10K is on the same side to end the race. The medal is unique. The shirt is excellent. The shuttle service was well coordinated. The biggest disappointment was the weather. Obviously, the organizers can't control this aspect, except to consider moving the event to later in May/June. It was actually warm earlier in the week but to start a race at 30-32 degrees with a 10-12 mph wind is quite cold. Another plus is the Fargodome, airport and hotels are very close to one another. Good job - race organizers and volunteers. | |
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K. T. from Chicago, IL
(5/10/2015)
 "Great Fun on Great Plains" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Organization was top-notch with a big-city expo in the FargoDome. The swag was brilliant: a zippy shirt, colorful draw-string bag, and lots of free stuff from vendors. The bling was fabulous: the big medal resembles the Fargo Theater marquee. The volunteers and fans were wonderful, encouraging. The logistics were fantastic with the airport, hotels (stay at the Candlewood Suites!), and start/finish at the FargoDome all in very close proximity. The cool course ran through 3 college campuses, went along and over the Red River, jogged in and out of Minnesota, had lots and lots of music, and was flat. Weather was cold, windy, but dry. Guest speaker Deena Kastor was so accessible and inspirational; she signed my shirt. This Great Plains event was fun every step of the way. Don't run this just to check off a state on your way to 50, run this race because it rocks! | |
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D. H. from Albuquerque, NM
(5/10/2015)
"Flat as promised, a party as reputed" (about: 2015)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I read the prior reviews because I had heard last year's race was a bit of a step backward. Whatever the issue, they've fixed it. This race was fantastic. I've been to a number of races where the RDs claim the course was flat, but this is the first one that actually was flat. Honestly, the only real 'hills' were the upside of underpasses. The course took us through a number of beautiful neighborhoods and downtown Fargo, the latter looking like iconic Mainstreet, USA. The start & finish in the Fargodome were awesome, and really brought the hooplah to a fever pitch. The shirts were nice, and the medals were great. They were a recreation of one of the signs from downtown. Afterwards, there was a pub crawl that took you through 10 of the bars in the downtown area, most of which were pretty cool places I wish I had in my town. At best of all, there was a medal you got for finishing the pub crawl! This looked like the race medal, but with a bottle opener on 1 end. The spectators were great. There were a number of unofficial aid stations, bands, and lawn parties happening all along the course. Volunteers were great. Beyond great, really. Super friendly & helpful. Aid stations were well stocked and traffic control was superb. This was an outstanding race. They love their race, and I am not used to this level of excitement outside of a big city race. Population notwithstanding, I'd compare it to Chicago & Cincinnati. It's that good. | |
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J. A. from Minneapolis, MN
(9/14/2014)
 "First marathon, felt it could've been better" (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 The start was kind of a mess. The marathon and 10k courses were together and shared the same streets for about 2 miles. If they had split them to different sides of the road that would've helped but instead those miles were mainly spent dodging walkers who started out too quickly. I'm sure the picture of all runners on the bridge was impressive though. The aid stations were all well stocked and there were 13 by my count which averaged out to be about 2 miles for each. However, they were spread out anywhere from 0.75-2.5 miles apart. When you're running it's tough not knowing how far until the next one every time. The volunteers were all enthusiastic and really supportive. The course was fun especially through Fargo. There were a lot of spectators, lots of noise, several bands and lawn parties going on. I started my music at the start but never actually put my headphones in the entire race. Moorhead was kind of quiet but that was only about 3 miles. The final 15 miles or so the half and full marathons shared the course for the most part. This time the streets were split by race and there were no issues. There was one point though where a full marathon timing may was set up on the half marathon side of the road and I saw several people miss it, understandably. In the results there were at least a few hundred splits missing at this mat. The route itself was nice and flat as described. There was one spot where volunteers were letting cars not just cross the road between runners but drive down the course for a few blocks. At this spot the course was already confined to just one coned-off lane so a car has nowhere to go except slowly follow the runners until it turned off. Oddly enough this was the spot where I needed to get gels from friends and I'm sure the elderly driver right behind me was surprised when I suddenly slowed down to make the handoff. I never finished at the dome but I thought the downtown finish was cool. The bag pick up was right at the finish line, and there was plenty of food available. I couldn't find any water after leaving the immediate finishing area that was corralled in though. Overall it was pretty good for my first marathon. The spectators and volunteers really make this race. The organization seemed a little lacking but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt as this year they used a new route and there are some kinks to be worked out. It looks like 2015 will be back to the old route though. | |
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T. L. from Minneapolis, MN
(6/25/2014)
"Fargo Dome Start and Finish" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I ran the 2013 race and was really pleased with this event. The city of Fargo really comes out to support this, and the start and finish venue at the Fargo Dome was really excellent. I skipped the 2014 race precisely because it wasn't at the Fargo Dome; I'll run it again when it's back at that venue. The organization for 2013 was fantastic: all the pre- and post-race events were in the Fargo Dome, which was easily able to handle all the participants. It gave us a dry place with plenty of toilets to start, and lots of comfortable space to unwind, stretch, and relax at the finish. This is a pretty small marathon, but it's a nicely attended event and I ran it with the 3:15 pacer, along with a pretty big pack of people. Even with a relatively small field I was surrounded by runners of a similar pace until the last few miles; finishing a marathon by yourself is kind of expected at smaller events, but lots of runners for the first 20 really helped. Crowd support was intense for such a small race: people lined almost every mile of the course, cheering and shouting. Families along the very-residential last few miles did a good job of keeping the intensity high. Aid stations were frequent enough and pretty well organized, though layout wasn't completely consistent from one station to the next. The course wasn't bad and the organizers do pretty well with what they have. With that said, this is a *VERY* flat marathon - much too flat for my legs. With no variation in terrain, I had a lot more repetitive fatigue than at other marathons with more rolling terrain. The course also has an awful lot of turns - about 60 by my count, which makes it hard to keep up pace. There's more concrete than I'd ideally like to see, but again they work with what they have. There are some beautiful park sections where the running is on asphalt recreation trails, most notably a nice stretch near the middle and a long stretch along the river in the later stages of the second half. Despite the flatness, the course does keep you engaged and interested. I stayed in the NDSU dorms, which are right at the Fargo Dome, super cheap, and relatively comfortable. These aren't modern residence halls - they're old-school dorms with tile floors, cinder block walls and metal beds. But they're cheap and convenient, and they made us coffee in the morning. All in all, this is a race I intend to run again - as long as they return it to the Fargo Dome. | |
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J. T. from Iowa
(6/10/2014)
"Race for Marathoners not the Halfers" (about: 2014)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Initially, I thought this race was going to be a mess. I was completely wrong. It was one of the best Marathons I participated in. Initially my anxiety started when they had a 5k of 10,000 people next to packet pickup. There was some other things but they were unfounded. What I really liked... The mall was opened by the start line for Marathoners only. So they had somewhere warm to sit/bathroom prior to the race. Also, they had free showers near the finish line after the race. Post race massages were for marathoners only. Spectators, Shirts, Medals, etc. All mean Jack Sh*t to me compared to the other perks. I HATE paying a large chunk of a race fee to have the 1/2 marathoners eat all the food, Butt me out of a massage (or just some help stretching), or see everything about the race disappear after 13.1 miles (ie:Rock N Roll Marathons). This had none of that. It was well run and had some great perks. | |
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K. L. from MN
(5/26/2014)
 "Still Good, But is was Great at the Dome" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Fargo Marathons
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Overall, the organizers of this race did a good job for the 10th anniversary. But there were a couple of bad spots, especially considering these were strengths at the dome. 1. The expo was cramped, disorganized, and the lack of volunteers to direct you was disappointing. This was probably due to the expo being in three separate areas of the civic center. 2. They asked everyone to show up to the athletes villages two hours prior to the start of the race (which was fine), but they started directing people to the start line an hour before the gun. We had to walk approximately 1/2 mile to the start and the sweat trucks were located half way. On such a cold morning, ditching my sweats that early was a bad idea. 3. There was not a good plan for spectators to get to the finish area. My wife was not able to come down to the finish due to parking and traffic issues (unless she wanted to come down at 6:00am). Aside from these points, the race was great. Spectators / volunteers were excellent. Swag was great. The town really gets into it. Mark, please go back to the dome next year! | |
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G. M. from Winnipeg.Canada.
(5/22/2014)
"Great time." (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Fargo Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Great run,Super organised as usual.One big moan.Get back to the Fargodome.The expo was a joke.Managed to get into the YMCA near startline.Fargodome is better,as you can have a decent expo,loads of parking and place to keep warm.This race is a gem.Only did the half. | |
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e. s. from Perkasie, PA
(5/18/2014)
"Fargo Rules!" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Fargo Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This race was extremely well done and totally fun. Perfectly flat, neighborhood parties on the lawn cheering for all! Nice entertainment from Elvis, garage bands, square dancers, bag pipers even the Grim Reaper telling us the end was near at mile 25. No problems with traffic to expo or the start (I got up way too early). Porta potties even in the race parking lots. Perfect weather, excellent medal and swag. Post race dance party looked fun. I went to see a movie at the historic theater. Great Time in Fargo! | |
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A. G. from TX, USA
(5/13/2014)
"Great experience!!!" (about: 2014)
4-5 previous marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I did the half. This was a great race! Well organized, a fun, flat course, great crowd. I love the perksthe free video of your finish, all the information closer to the time of the race (I tend to ignore emails with info 4 months from the race!) and I really felt that they tried to give each runner a great experience. The only things I would improve on for next year: 1) the expo should be organized better. You followed arrows that implied that you would get your shirt but really all it does is take you on a circle so you can see all the vendors. Once around the circle you can leave the exhibit hall and go to the real place to get your shirt. Most places just have the shirt pick up in the exhibit hall in the back so you do have to still see the vendors but at least it's not deceptive. 2) The finishers' area needs more signage and the finishers' foods should be equally set up on 3-4 separate tables. There was mass congestion as a lot of people were trying to get to the one table with food. Otherwise I thought this race was great. This was my fifth half and one of the most enjoyable. |
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