Chuck Miller's Staging Area

I’ve heard great things about this race and it lived up to its hype, mostly, for my first marathon. Beautiful sunny day and I’m glad this year’s race started outside instead of inside the Fargodome. Scenic course through Fargo, Moorhead, three colleges and universities, and many neighborhoods. Great crowd support and a friendly running crowd. One woman told me, I’ve run 40 plus marathons and this is the only one I’ve repeated. Great swag. Nice hoodie jacket for marathoners and huge, classy, heavy finisher medal. The “noisy” announcer Fitz Koehler was the best and yelled out everyone’s name and where they were from when they crossed the finish line. There were a few blips like the course not being marked very well at a few turns and uncontrolled intersections. And no visible snacks other than bottled water at the finish line. But, this was the first year the race director of 20 years, Mark Knutson was not there to help run things. Hopefully the organizers learn from any issues. I’d recommend this race to anyone who wants a fast, flat and friendly experience.