38/50 - Fargo Marathon

It's me, "kinda funny looking, in a general sorta way."

Fargo was the perfect marathon trip to celebrate my 38th state marathon for my 38th birthday. On occasion, I turn one of these state marathon experiences into a group trip for the Libertyville Running Club - the club I founded. It's trips like this where others get to see firsthand how a seemingly uninteresting city can actually be a lot of fun and that the goal isn't so much getting to and running the race as it is about the discoveries along the way. Perspective can produce completely different experiences; my hope is that this blog entry, and the others before it, inspire you to embrace a new experience.

The Fargo Marathon is a week-long event and something the city clearly takes pride in. There's 9 hours of driving between Libertyville, IL and Fargo, ND and by leaving early enough, we got there in 31 hours - you've got to plan for the unplanned stops. We left Thursday morning and Ale Asylum made for a worthy lunch stop. From there, Surly Brewing Co. coincided with dinner. This place recently constructed a massive brewpub and production facility making beer that is still consistently good.

The Ale Asylum Crüe

It was here that I made a decision I regretted for days... I did not treat myself to the gift shop flannel shirt. While it enveloped my body in its slim-fitted, Brawny-like woodsy warmth, I asked myself: Can a ginger pull off a red flannel? Is it worth $60? Are these sleeves a bit short? The answer to all three questions undoubtedly, was yes. However, we departed for Luke's lakeside cabin 1.5 hours away without the flannel - a location that would prove fitting for such a majestic piece of lumberjack-inspired apparel.

Luke's cabin in Watab, MN has been in his family since World War II. It's a beautiful wooded lot on Little Rock Lake with a cabin, a log guest house, a sauna building, and a tree house, much of which his dad built. Upon arrival, seven of us piled into the sauna to sweat out the day's beer, followed with a fireside chat before bed. In the morning, our lakefront theater hosted a beautiful sunrise - which I saw a lovely photo of after I awoke at 7am.

I'm sure this was great to see in person. Thanks for the pic, Ryan!

After a group run, breakfast made by a couple of the guys, and a showing of the movie Fargo, we had quotes that would sustain us for the rest of the trip and food that would sustain us until the next brewery... in 2 hours for lunch. Big Axe Brewing was not necessarily on the way but we were inspired to head north to Brainerd, MN to find the Paul Bunyan statue and the Blue Ox truck stop motel featured in the movie - we found neither. However, Big Axe proved to be one of the more entertaining and enjoyable unplanned stops in our travels. Take for example this interaction between a sarcastic Grumpy Old Man-type patron and the bartender:

     Patron: What d'ya got that tastes like PBR?

     Bartender: Here's something you might like. (hands Patron a beer)

     Patron: (takes a sip) TASTES LIKE HAMM'S!

The beer was damn good. Their flannel however, was not quite right.

"He steps lightly with his right foot and heavy with his left. This cursed devil scours the woods felling any tree giving him a crooked look." - The Axe Kicker beer label description OR a description of Syed

We finally made it to Fargo at 5pm for packet pickup and dinner (at a brewery, of course) with the others that took more direct routes. The next morning was race day.

The pre-race dinner Crüe minus Lauren, Ann, Erin, and Vaughn

Staying at the Scandia Hotel was a wise choice and, well, every other downtown hotel was sold out. It's walking distance to downtown and about 2 miles to the Fargodome. You could not have asked for better running weather with clouds and temps hovering around the low 40s all morning. The race starts inside the Fargodome providing pre-race warmth, bathrooms aplenty, and post-race showers.

The course is well-routed through various neighborhoods, parks, college campuses, riverwalks, and city streets giving us a pretty good tour of the area. Hell, we would have completely missed out on Drekker Brewing Co., our post-race favorite, had we not run past it around mile 24. The residents of Fargo really contribute to the atmosphere of the race by hosting their own cheer stations and front yard parties to welcome us to their city.

I started with Tom and Ryan who were first-time marathoners with the impressive goal of running a sub-3-hour marathon. Our plan was to start with a few 7-minute miles then fall into 6:40s. Well, we mostly did that. Around mile 13, Tom and I pulled slightly ahead and by mile 18, I no longer heard his breathing. Hoping to be a carrot and stay in Tom's sights, I lingered to chat with Kurt who was running the half marathon when we met up around mile 21. I finished with a close-to-even split in 20th/1,302 (2nd in my age group behind the overall winner) with a finish time of 2:55:46. Check North Dakota off the list for my 33rd sub-3-hour state marathon.

Somewhere near the finish with no one shouting out my custom bib name "Happy BDay!"

I went through the chute then joined Jeremy at the finish line to cheer on the rest of our club - there were 16 of us. The jumbotron was showing video of the runners at mile 26 so we could be ready for them. Most of us wear the Nefarious shirt for easy spotting and cult-like intimidation. It garnered a few comments from the religious participants; the race did begin with the Our Father prayer.

They even made a wine for us.

One by one, we came through the finish and joined the group to cheer on the next runner until we walked and ran in our last two, Michael and Syed, from mile 26. No runner left behind; that's how we roll! All of our group had a PR and/or successful race. Everything came together at this one.

Bringing in Syed

Afterward, the race hosts a bar crawl, complete with a medal, but we opted for our own. Starting at Würst Bier Hall, we walked next door to Drekker Brewing Co. where we engaged in conversation with a few women that also ran and were enjoying a post-race "recovery" drink. With two more in tow, we ventured over to Fargo Brewing Company for a Fargo-themed beer called The Woodchipper and a round of Cards Against Humanity. No good decisions were made after this stop, nevertheless, we persisted.

Fargo Brewing Company - probably when we should have called it a night.

We departed for home after a run and Babb's Coffee House the next morning. Well, home eventually. This was my birthday and I'll be damned if we weren't going back to Surly for that flannel! From there, we made a short detour to Toppling Goliath in Decorah, IA for great beer and pizza delivery. Our car still managed to keep this a 4-day trip by pulling into my driveway at 11:59pm fueled by Dot's Pretzels (a North Dakota staple) which of course I'm eating while typing this and Scotcharoos (a Wisconsin favorite) which I'm also eating while typing this.

The moment you've all been waiting for: the Surly flannel.

Next up: Missoula Marathon on July 9th.