Moorhead Police Sergeant to Run Fargo Marathon in Uniform

He's doing it to honor those killed in the line of duty

MOORHEAD, Minn. — Thousands of people will be running in the Fargo Marathon, and everyone has their own reason for taking part.

Moorhead Police Sergeant Scott Kostohryz says his favorite part of running marathons, other than the finish line, is hearing the stories about why people participate.

“Everyone’s got a reason to run. Nobody wakes in the morning and says, ‘I’m going to run 26.2 miles today,'” he said.

This is his tenth marathon, and he’s going to run all 26.2 miles in uniform.

“I’ve realized from the previous nine that I’m never going to win, so I wanted to have fun with it,” he said.

He’s doing it to honor officers who died in the line of duty last year.

All money raised in his effort will go towards the Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association and Moorhead Police Athletics and Activities League.

It’s also to build relationships with the community and show that police officers are there to help.

“The uniform’s really powerful. When people see it, unfortunately they think, ‘okay what am I doing wrong, am I breaking the law, am I speeding… We want people to see the uniform and think, ‘if I need help, that’s who I got to go to,’” he said.

He is lightening his load and switched his boots for some running shoes.

“There’s only so many places in public where I can run around in uniform, a track being one of them, treadmill being the other, without drawing a lot of weird looks,” he said.

Whether runners are in uniform or not, he says the community never fails to show their support.

“It’s more mental. That’s kind of where having support in Fargo and Moorhead is amazing. Even if you’re just wearing your running clothes, they’re shouting out encouragement and it’s a fun race to run,” he said.

The Minnesota Law Enforcement Memorial Association provides funeral services for officers killed in the line of duty.