The Fargo Mini Marathon is the fall smaller sibling to the Spring Fargo Marathon. The main event has over 20,000 runners but the fall event is growing with 2,400 runners this year. The event was moved from downtown Fargo to the SW end of town at the Scheels Arena. This was done to provide the ability to support a larger field and provide routes through different and new parts of town from other races. The event included a half-marathon, 10K, 5K, and children’s races.
Personally, I ran the 10K in a new PR (1:11:32). I realized after that I have run twice as many half-marathons as 10K and have not run this distance very often. After my last short run on Thursday, I had tired legs. I decided on Friday to do a short swim (~15minutes) and sat in the steam room and sauna at the wellness center massaging my legs and getting them loose. I also changed my pre-race nutrition, with pasta for lunch on Friday, fruit and a bit of protein (half a chicken breast) for supper, and fruit and peanut butter toast for breakfast. Arrived at the race in about 40* weather but it was dry for the first time in 3 days and the winds were light. Warm-up felt great, and as I stripped down to shorts, LS shirt, and gloves for the start, I felt wonderful. I started in back and set my pace comfortably. Between miles one and two, there was a gusty headwind, and between miles three and four, I had some trouble holding my pace. It felt exactly the same, but the watch said I slowed about 35seconds per mile. I struggled a bit to regain form. It was in this area also that the course was challenging (more on that later). Got back out on the main road and the pace improved. At this point, I was pleasantly surprised that we were closer to the finish that I thought. I stayed with the plan and finished strong. I was a full five minutes under both plan and my previous PR. Finished with legs feeling great and a big smile on my face. I also finished with confidence that my new nutrition plan, weight loss, and running plan was ahead of schedule and has me well on my way to a new half-marathon PR next spring.
It was also great to see friends do well and have big smiles at their times. I talked to another friend on Sunday who did not run, but noted that many he had talked to found the race and course fast.
Now, let me switch to a review of the event. Overall, the expo was OK. I heard comments from quite a few runners about the layout being poor, and I agreed with them. I think the booths in the lobby area needed to move because they blocked where the runners gathered for the races. I think the layout that forced us to walk all the way around the arena to get to packet pick-up was confusing and unnecessary. And there was a lower quality of the booths, with not much that caused me to stop and learn. There also was a lack of items to buy, especially event related hats, jackets, shirts, etc. The official shirt was a nice LS tech shirt, but the design and logo was bit dull.
The start was a mess. The 5k started 10 minutes late, and the 10K was after that. There were also sound problems, so the announcements could not be heard inside the arena. I was frustrated that I warmed up for an on-time start and then struggled to stay warm and ready for the delayed time. My wife and son missed the start because they did not hear the announcement. I hope no runners missed it also.
The courses changed from what was posted on the website. So much for printing the maps and scouting the course. The website said that in 1-3 years this will be a great course; my take is they made the switch one to two years early. We ran past mostly houses under construction where trucks and the 2 days of rain meant there was mud on the streets instead of people cheering on their front lawns. We also ran through modern subdivisions in a winding, distance maximizing fashion. This meant that many areas were isolated from drive in traffic and no one could get to many of the areas of the course to watch and cheer. Some of the course was on recreation trails. The new standard for this part of the two was double width sidewalks, making these areas narrow and hard (concrete). My feet felt pounded. There were also a lot of sharp turns and a few u-turns. The only hill on the course was a bridge. It had two sharp u-turns, one that broke the momentum of the downhill, and another in the midst of the longest climb. Both broke a runner’s stride and made the hill much tougher. There were sections where I had no idea what direction I was heading.
There was also a section where I was worried we had missed a turn. It turns out that the signs were for the 5k and we ended up running the full 10K. But I spent a couple of miles looking at my watch, seeing a good time, and worried that I could not, in good conscience, accept a time as my PR if the actual route was shortened. It turns out this was the 5k course, but there were two elderly ladies that were pointed the wrong way, and ended up finishing a 10K when they were entered in the 5K. The race did a good job in recognizing the mistake, giving them a special announcement with loud cheers from the crowd and 10K medals.
There were two bands on the course, but they were at the same point, and when I hit, they were both between a song. Not sure how it worked, but I would have liked to at least hear one playing. The only rest stop on the 10K was fairly narrow. I did not have trouble getting through, but I was actually happy to not be faster and in the larger pack for that block. I do not need water in a 10K, but also worry about tripping over those that do.
The first and last mile were on a main road that led to the arena (32nd Ave S). This section of road is raised with ditches on both sides, and empty. There are no windbreaks, no places for crowds, and feel more rural than the opening and closing of a major race. It really forces a runner to rely on their own drive for pace rather than any outside help.
Finish was inside the arena. The ramp into the arena was very steep and would have been a mess in rain. A floor had been laid over the ice, but it was a floating floor that would shift some and also was of a material that was very slippery when wet. Fortunately, it was a dry morning outside and the fans dried the floor so there were not problems.
Finally, although the switch was made to a new venue for larger fields, there was a huge problem getting everyone in and they are already out of parking. I told my parents not to come because I expected a problem and after seeing the results, it now seems that lack of parking will be the limit on future growth. There were over a hundred vehicles parked on the street that was supposed to be closed because it was the finishing stretch of the race, and there were already cars trying to leave during my finish, meaning the fast half-marathoner’s probably had to dodge cars and exhaust clouds at the 13 mile marker. Not a good plan.
The race has a good management team that shows with the spring marathon they can put on great events. The race really just felt like it had some growing pains. In a couple of years, the houses will be finished, the mud, lack of spectators, and planning at the arena should have the kinks worked out, and it will be a better race. But this year was frustrating, but also fast and I was pleased with my time.
We tend to rate races on a curve. If we are running a race in a small town of 2 to 3,000, we expect less. But this is a big town race by a team that knows what makes a great event. I don’t think they hit expectations I and many fellow runners had. I give an A- for effort, but only a C- or D for execution. I have already put this race on my calendar for next year but there needs to be some things worked out.
No comments:
Post a Comment