Half-Assed Runner

We left our exurban chateau for the nearly 4 hour drive to Fargo right before 1 pm.  I was a bit stressed out on the way as the website stated that you needed to pick up your 5K packet prior to 5 pm.  If Google was telling the truth, then we would be arriving at the Fargodome with only about 10 minutes to spare…and that was not accounting for street closures, parking, crowds, dinosaurs, and earthquakes.  As it turned out, we made it to Fargo around 4:15 so we were able to check in to our hotel room then head over to the Fargodome.

Getting to the Fargodome was painless as well. The only obstacles were the design of the city streets (lots of one-way streets) and not any closures.  Traffic was mild, especially considering that they were expecting up to 10,000 5K runners that night.  Parking was plentiful and the Fargodome was roomy enough so that I felt less crowded than I have at many smaller expos.

Packet Pickup

Once inside, I expected a long wait for our packets.  The 5K packet pickup was on the main level (basically the concourse around the stadium) and the rest of the races held their packet pickup down on the stadium floor along with the expo.  I would pick up the 5K packets while my wife went down to the floor to pick up her 10K packet and – if necessary – my half marathon packet.

Packet pickup was quick and easy.  I grabbed my son’s packet and mine.  He received his in a bag and I was told that since I was registered for two races, my bag would be included with my half marathon packet.  I was in and out in about 10 minutes.  I went downstairs and had my half marathon packet in about 10 minutes as well.

We had a ton of time to kill at that point (a little after 5 pm) so we walked around the expo.  There were a ton of vendors pitching everything from other races to expensive fruit juice.  I grabbed a couple of packs of GU Chomps and was going to buy a poster but decided not to (I’ll explain why in another post).  During the expo they announced a number of times that there were no water stops on the 5K course so they recommended bringing your own water.  This was a good suggestion as it was ninety-freaking-five degrees outside.  I had brought my handheld bottle for this purpose, but had left it in the hotel room so we bought some bottled water at the expo.

Expo

We walked around the finish line area (the races end inside the Fargodome).  The race bibs have a large area for you to write in your name so we stopped at a table and my son wrote his name (not without appending “the Great” to it – egoist!)  Finally we decided to kill the remaining 30 minutes by sitting in stands.

We left the stadium around 6:15 so that we would minimize standing around in the 95 degree heat.  This meant that we ended up in the back of the huge pack.  There were two 5K starting areas: one for walkers and one for runners.  This was a great design.  The walkers lined up a block away and would not start until all of the runners had crossed the starting line.  Still, we were so far back in the pack that there was a sign denoting “Estimated Finish Time: 50 Minutes.”

5K Medals

The weather was a huge concern.  It honestly did not feel that bad.  Even though it was 95 degrees, there was a strong wind and the humidity was very low (19%) so it felt much cooler.  I was running this race as my son’s pacer/waterboy so I wasn’t going to be running very fast.

After both the Canadian and US anthem were sung and “Eye of the Tiger” blasted over the speakers, we were off.  I had told my son to run his race and I would follow behind him.  I also told him to start out slow and when he needed a walk break to get all the way over to the right before walking.  He surprised me by actually starting out slow as he usually bolts out at top speed.

The course itself was run completely on residential streets.  There were a ton of people cheering on the runners.  A number of residents had turned on their sprinklers so that runners could run through them to cool down.  My son hit as many of those as he could.  Near the end of the course there was a large misting station as well as an open fire hydrant.

Fargodome

I was not carrying my phone with me as I would not be listening to music and did not want to tie up both hands with a phone and a bottle of water.  This meant no pictures, which was fine.  It also meant no distance/pace information.  This would have been nice as my son kept asking “how much further?”.

The course was completely flat and had a fair number of turns.  I missed the first mile marker and my son told me when we passed the halfway mark.  It seemed to come up pretty fast.  It buoyed his spirits.  I told him “only about 15 minutes left”.  So it came as a bit of a shock when – about 10 minutes later – we saw the 2 mile marker.  “Umm, only about 11 minutes left” I said to my slightly deflated son.  Later we figured out that the “halfway point” he saw was the word “half” written in big letters on the street.  The next day I would decipher this as being part of the half marathon course and not the midpoint of the 5K.

Needless to say, the course was packed.  We were constantly picking holes to pass people.  Sometimes my son would pass someone on the right and I would pass on the left, then I would have to find him again.  It’s easy to lose sight of a smaller human in the mass of runners but we ended up staying together the whole race.

The walkers did make an appearance.  I’m talking about the folks walking the whole route.  The ones who were supposed to line up in a different area.  The ones who would have to have willfully ignored the dozens of announcements over the PA system for the entire half hour before the race.  The ones who somehow decided to not only line up with the runners but to also line up near the front of the pack.  The ones who also figured that walking four-abreast was a fine plan.  I am happy to report that at least two of those walkers received elbow blows.

Other than the jackass walkers, the crowd was nice.  Few runners – especially as far back in the pack as we were – were running very fast.  Most were smiling and taking in the scene.  We spotted a running Elvis as well as a Stormtrooper in full gear (he had to be boiling) and were high-fiving as many kids as possible along the route.  My son loved running through the sprinklers.

After hitting the 2 mile mark, I told my son that if he can hang tight he could complete this run with no walk breaks.  This became our new goal.  He would ask “how much further” and I would guesstimate times based on a 10 minute per mile pace.

Soon enough we could see the Fargodome on our right and the crowds were getting much thicker.  “We just have to run to that building and we’re done.”  He was saving his kick for the end.  Unfortunately he never got to use it.  The race ended near where it began, not in the Fargodome.  This was a bit of a surprise.

Me and the Monkey.

I was proud of my son as he completed the 5K with no walk breaks.  The vast majority of the 5K’ers must have walked as the average finishing time was around 45 minutes.  This meant that my PW 5K time was still in the top 25% and – more importantly – let my son brag that he ran faster than 6,000 other runners.

We collected our medals, grabbed some water, met up with my wife and were on our way back to the hotel in about 15 minutes.  I was impressed with how well this race was organized, especially with the brutal weather conditions.

5K Medal

5K shirt and medal