How some runners are still participating in the Fargo Marathon despite the cancellation

Since COVID-19 reared its ugly head in North Dakota and Minnesota, Mark Knutson and his team of organizers for the Fargo Marathon have been trying everything and anything to make sure the show went on.

FARGO, ND – “Nobody expected the cases to do what they did around the country, and then locally and regionally the same thing happened,” said Mark Knutson, the Executive Director of the Fargo Marathon.

An uptick in COVID-19 cases in the Red River Valley has forced organizers to cancel the Fargo Marathon.

“We’ve seen the uptick in North Dakota, and in Cass County and Clay County, and it just made us realize that we had to do the right thing,” said Knutson.

Since COVID-19 reared its ugly head in North Dakota and Minnesota, Mark Knutson and his team of organizers for the Fargo Marathon have been trying everything and anything to make sure the show went on.

“People have seen a lot of races cancelled, and we were kind of the last one standing, and we tried,” stated Knutson, “People weren’t completely surprised by it.”

Runners like Moshe Peterson and his running group, Faster Stronger Runner, are completely supportive of the decision.

“I think the most important thing is keeping everybody in the community safe, and any of the participants and the people that were going to volunteer to help the participants get through their marathon, and if we can keep them safe, then we’re doing our job,” said Moshe Peterson, who planned on attending the 2020 marathon in person.

Despite the cancellation, Moshe is still lacing up his running shoes.

He’s choosing to run the marathon virtually, one of three options presented to people who wanted to run the flat land of Fargo-Moorhead.

“You have to stop at traffic lights, you won’t have all the people cheering you on, you won’t have all the competition you normally have,” said Peterson “And there is no Fargodome finish, and you know, that’s one of the things a lot of people love.”

Moshe has run the Fargo Marathon twice before, once in 2011, and again in 2019.

Even though the marathon may look a little different for Moshe and other runners this year, he still thinks it’s worth running virtually.

“Run a virtual marathon if you can so you can feel like all the work wasn’t in vain, and show yourself what you were made of, and what all the training was worth,” said Peterson.

During the virtual run, Moshe would most likely run a 13.1 mile loop twice through his neighborhood, with volunteers and his family operating aid stations and cheering him on along the way.

Runners who paid for the event can also choose to compete next year or ask for a refund.