Fargo Marathon 2007: The good, the bad, the ugly

Let me say first off, that the Fargo Marathon 2007 edition went off very smoothly. There was bit of a scare for the weather but it ended up cooperating.
Let's start with the good: Attracting 8000 participants! Incredible. There was great particpation all around from volunteering to spectating. Fargo really does put on a good event. In particular I am glad they gave out technical wicking shirts and Adidas bags. I was very happy for those additions.
The Bad: It's not really that bad but I noted a huge consortum of Ipods and headphones. I am a purist. Mp3s are for some training. In fact I only got to use mine once during my build up. It seemed almost half the field was wearing headsets. Women in particular were more commonly plugged in. It irked me a bit that the women's champion for the marathon from last year was wearing them. I would attempt to talk to someone but find they were plugged in and in another zone. I should have mimed talking to somone with headphones to see if they would react. Minneapolis and Duluth have already banned their use as there is much debate about safety. In Fargo that has not happened. But I suppose that's the mark of this event: fun and friendly.
The Ugly: Fargo got big but I think the space available was not used efficiently. This event got big very quickly which surprises me but it must be good marketing. The 2 places where space was an issue. Starting line. We were running shoulder to should for almost 2 miles and in some cases 3. It prevented me from making stride until halfway through mile 2. Then the finish area was especially clogged. I could hardly move and did not have much room to do a post race stretch. The lines for food were longer than I remember last year (and I worked food last year). It seemed the Fargo Dome was smaller than it was. There was plently of space on the other side of the fence restriction but once runners left you could not return. The exits were near to impossible to get to unless you knew the concourse exits on the floor level. Once again the finishing area will need to be reworked.