A successful finish to Fargo Marathon week

It was capped off Saturday with the Full and Half Marathons.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Fargo Marathon week was another huge hit in the community.

The Fargo Marathon brings in thousands of runners and supporters and the economic impact is substantial annually.

“We’re going to be about 8,300, 8,400, people, just talking to the Convention Visitors Bureau people. Based on the kinda of average spend of people coming in, it’s going to be north of a million dollars, for hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and shopping,” said Mark Knutson, Executive Director, Fargo Marathon.

The marathon committee had some hurdles to overcome before the event, weather being a big one.

“Difficult challenging winter, not only that but a challenging spring. We had the winter that wouldn’t die, the spring that never showed up, as you know, we had to change the course twice because of flooding. We had a 98 percent flood proof course and that turned into a not so flood proof course,” said Knutson.

There were also potholes around the Fargodome the city had to fill to prevent any runners from getting hurt.

In the end, everything came together.

This is the second consecutive year since the pandemic the marathon has been back. Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney says since 2020, he thinks more people are taking charge of their health.

“The thing I love about the marathon is that we have it for children, we have bikes, we have all different abilities of people who can get into it,” said Fargo Mayor Dr. Tim Mahoney.

Some runners spend months training like the women’s half marathon winner Rachel King

“Training was not ideal. I was only running up to about 50 miles a week and I just finished grad school, so it was really hard juggling the two. I really came into this with low expectations. I just wanted to finish with a half decent time,” Rachel King, Women’s half marathon winner.

People left impressed with the atmosphere in the dome and welcoming Fargo community.

“This event is so electrifying. If you’ve never had this experience, you should definitely come try and do it. The community benefits with all the spectators involved, all of the fans and runners. It’s just a huge plus to the community,” Jason Bentz, Fargo.