Thousands of Runners Get Ready for Saturday’s Fargo Marathon

Runners could pick up race materials at Sanford Health Athletic Complex

FARGO, N.D. — It was the calm before the storm at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex, as thousands of anxious runners received their materials before the Fargo Marathon.

Thousands of runners have participated in the marathon over the years, and Director Mark Knutson is optimistic about the race this year.

“The passion’s still there. I think the crowd support is fantastic. Our community, both Fargo and Moorhead, both do such a great job of accepting this and embracing the runners from all over,” said Knutson.

Thousands of runners will lace up their sneakers tomorrow, but there is one runner who has run in over 400 marathons that says he loves to run in Fargo each year.

“The finish line is a massive draw. In five minutes, five seconds, it counts. You’re on that jumbotron, you feel like an Olympic athlete. It’s a fantastic finish,” said Chuck Engle, a marathon runner.

Engle has run a sub–3 hour marathon in all fifty states twice, and is in the midst of his third round of runs nationwide. He got his start at a young age.

“I’ve always been a runner. My brother was 6–2, 250, just a big, big kid, and I used to antagonize him like any little brother would, and he just chased me, so I started running early,” said Engle.

But even with plenty of marathons under his belt, Engle says there’s something special about Fargo.

“There was a cold sponge stop. I’ll never forget the cold sponge stop, and I thought…someone went out to a local grocery store and bought 1,000 sponges, and that made all the difference in the world to me,” said Engle.

Knutson says that there are 1,800 runners signed up to participate in tomorrow’s full marathon.