The Royce Files

Once of the stunts I think the marathon could pull off would be to have a celebrity run the race. And I don't mean Dom Izzo or Doug Burgum. The closest we get to this in Fargo is celebrity lookalikes as I noted in a post last year in addition to the guy who runs dressed as Superman and that Elvis impersonator just south of the 13th. Also concerning the Governor (aka Doug Burgum), he did run both the 5K and 10K instead of stroll this year. Dom also kept decent pace in 5K. One can always depend on Coach GP being in Fargo for the race. Coach GP Just learned that GP Pearlberg was the voice of the marathon. I knew he had something to do in Fargo besides coach runners. I think a local guy named Guy shared the voice responsibility in the past. Not sure that is still the case although I did see Guy at the Fargo Dome. Anyways, Coach GP does lend his renowned in the running world to our event and has a great story. I need to go to one of his talks in the future.  Speaking of voice...

Here I am at the Fargo Dome exercising my volunteer muscle doing registrations. It has been somewhat slow but enjoyable nonetheless. It got me thinking what to blog. So I looked to see what was missing. So here is my rundown. Swanson Health and their goodies. Swanson is no longer a sponsor nor an exhibitor at the Expo. I think since the were sold to an outside group the marketing relationship was cut. I miss the vitamins and stuff they gave away. Essentia Health has taken their place and makes the Expo a little different although still good. They have great giveaways like water bottles. Just not gobs of vitamins, health mixes, and soaps. Pasta/lefse feed I am not sure when this met the axe. May have been a few years ago. I guess it may have been a low income generating event. I would need to check if other races still have have a carb load meal. Research, I believe, has nullified the value so close to a race. Local establishment on 19th across from Fargo Dome- Labby's- was hav...

Weather seems to have taken a turn the last few days. Marathon day may be a little less than ideal but the races are starting inside the dome this year. Hopefully there will be minimal wind to contend. The wind out of the west and north the last 2 days has made for some really chilly races. The kids race had some precipitation too. Early May is hit or miss with weather up here. We were trending upward in temps last week but then the bottom almost fell out the latter part of the week. Things appear to be running smoothly for the races this year. 5K did run out of certain sizes shirts but runners generally did not chose to contend with haggard volunteers. Some made a few comments which is fair. Signage was a bit lacking for the 5K registration and packet pick up. I believe there was only one directional sign and the registration area had nothing.  No Coach G.P. this year nor is Dick Beardsley hanging around.  But Olympian and American women's marathon record holder Deena Ka...

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 cl...

The view near mile 4 just before official race time My preparations for a morning of spectating and random coverage began at 5:30 AM.  My crew zipped over to our race corner near mile 4 at 6:30 AM and set up the easy up tent in a light rain. Not much was happening until we started to see a few runners trickle by. And these were runners with official race bibs. No clue what they were doing. Too far from the Dome to be lost. I think about 2 dozen passed before either half or full officially started. We do know that a guy from Iowa ran the 10K by accident but eventually got on the right course for the marathon. Cris Estes would be proud. Apparently some entrants felt that because of the potential for high humidity in the later morn it would be better to start sooner than later. But perhaps they were slow runners who needed more than 6 hours to complete the course. This is the first time I ever encountered anything like that. Let's go back in time ...

 Thankfully the some thunderstorms blew in overnight and have cooled Fargo down from its foray into the 90s yesterday. At this point this morning before the races it looks good albeit the roads will be wet. But at least the heat has dissipated. Volunteered at the dome yesterday on the main floor. It was not very busy. It seemed slow but some account that for 5k registration and packet pick up being removed to the south concourse rather than the main floor. I discovered that elite runners will take their time checking in. Only 2 picked up their packets during my time slot. One of them was Andrew Carlson, who will be running the half. The other was Gina Aalgaard Kelly who was still undetermined if she would do the 10K or the half due to the forecast. She holds one of the top ten course records for the women's marathon in Fargo. Other notable people spotted included the Coach- Coach GP. I actually saw him in the morning driving one of the official marathon cars. Later he was d...

5K Shirts And so the Fargo Marathon kicked off its 2012 run today with the Youth Run, Expo, and Early Bird packet pick up. All but the 5K are closed to registration. I had the opportunity to volunteer at the 5K packet pick up. It was plenty of fun. Packet work generally is a great way to meet the runners and give them a Fargo welcome. You betcha! 5K packet pick up was moved upstairs from the rest of the races. It gave us more space and generally a less stressfull time. A whole throng of gymnasts came and helped out, too. They had a great time unpackaging bags for runners. Ran into a few aquaintences of mine while I volunteered. One was running the Half Marathon while the other one, Jeff, recently got a serious injury and would not be running. Jeff has appeared in a previous marathon post a few years ago. He fractured something in his leg while trail running. Jeff assured me he was not using the 5 finger shoes. Gymnast unpacking bags Strolled t...