A grand day for marathoning - Fargo Marathon 2014

The Finish Line in Downtown Fargo

Here is to another great 10 years!
It was a fantastic day to run. The cool morning warmed up slightly in the afternoon and a Kenyan can finally claim the victor's crown for the men's marathon in Fargo after a pretty close race down to the last 2 miles between 2 men. The rest of the field were well behind. Finding other results are a bit of a challenge as nothing is posted on www.fargomarathon.com. So it will be hard for me to analyze what I saw on the streets today. Bloggers don't get media passes :(.
No wait, I found them. 2014 Results. Men's winner finished in 2:26. Women's winner finished 2:53. Pretty decent results.
A big shout out should go to 19 year old Fargoan Keith Lehman who finished 5th with a respectable 2:45 time.
Wide range of hometown were amply represented in the marathon race results this year. This certainly is not a local race.
My workmate- Chris Hass- finished in the top 20 of the half marathon. He clocked a 1:18. Great job!

O Canada, waving on your back

Speaking of this not being a local race it appears than Canadian seem to draw inspiration by wearing their national flag as a cape while running. I saw many fly by me. Which brings me to something else. The trend this year appeared to be super heroes. No all out costumes but just the shirts and maybe some socks. Under Armour had been selling Captain America, Batman, and Superman tech shirts at the expo this year so I suspect the trend may be more widespread.



Now a smatter of other things I witnessed this morning while strolling up the route from 17th Ave S.

The man doing the half on crutches was out there again. Not sure of his name or if anybody else has featured his story. He has been doing this at least for 5 years. Maybe more. I believe he may be a Vietnam veteran.

It appeared that 2 active duty representatives of the armed forces were also active in doing the half marathon in full gear and boots. A man with some big chops passed them.
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party for the marathon

The party was on from 17th Ave upwards on both 8th and 9th St. Whole neighborhoods turned out plus some to cheer on the mass of runners this morning. The party above seemed to have some kind of theme- maybe prom, maybe 80s or maybe both. Music ranged from DJs to live rock bands. Even Elvis was out there serenading the runners. Incredible turnout for spectators just about anywhere I went. The downtown finish might have been handicapped by parking congestion but I felt this finish line was a bit more accessible to the viewers than the Fargo Dome setup. If  you got downtown you were sure to get a place to see the finish. Also just beyond the finish was a large stage for the 27th mile concert and street dance. Downtown was buzzing with excitement. 

Finally I want to post my yearly photo of Coach GP. He has become a fixture at this race- so much so that many runners sport his very same hairdo. A Fargo marathon without him would seem incomplete. So this year I did a selfie with coach GP just behind me. 

Coach GP on my shoulder giving me running advice