Run50 State #25 | North Dakota: Fargo Marathon

This time, we set off from Louisville, Kentucky, and headed straight to the Great Plains in the north-central United States: North Dakota.

The drive lasted for more than ten hours. It was not long, but certainly not short.

When we set out on the road in the evening, the sky was dyed half deep purple and half fiery red, and rows of windmills were spinning slowly in the distance.

On this trip to Fargo, we plan to have a combination of "camping + marathon running". Running during the day and camping in the car at night.

The campground is very quiet, and the price is actually about the same as that of a motel, but camping is more fun and has a bit of an American "road movie" feel.

North Dakota may be a place you rarely click on on a map.

This state is so big, but its people are so few. It has the second-lowest population in the United States. If you look around, it's all land.

The winter is so cold that the hair on your nose freezes into icicles, and the spring is so windy that it can drive people astray. The Fargo Marathon begins during this season when the wind blows the grass and the corn appears.

North Dakota's capital is Bismarck, but its largest city is Fargo, located on the banks of the Red River.

Many people's impression of this place is from the American TV series "Fargo", which is cold, mysterious and full of strange cases.

But the real-life version of Fargo is actually a simple town: clean, quiet, with high sky and strong wind. There are pickup trucks and large trucks running on the streets, giving it a "life atmosphere of northern farmers."

Speaking of the composition of the residents here, this prairie was mainly settled by German and Scandinavian immigrants in the early years. There are still many German and Nordic descendants in the state, and they still have a very "honest and kind" Nordic style of life.

There are a few other special things about North Dakota:

Agricultural state: one of the main producing areas of wheat, soybeans, corn, and sunflowers.

Wind power generation: The wind is so strong that rows of windmills can be seen along the way.

Winter is very harsh: temperatures of 20 to 30 degrees below zero are common, and snowstorms are also famous.

Spend the first night at an RV campsite. The car was parked on the grass, next to the trees, and half of the moon hung in the sky. The Tesla slowly charged and we lay in the car. However, the road was a bit uneven and it always wandered in one direction when we slept in the middle of the night.

We continued on the road the next day, surrounded by farmland, windmills, and the occasional large truck roaring by.

We chased the time and finally arrived in Fargo in the evening. I got my registration book before the Marathon Expo closed, and then went to the campground in Fargo. The campground was on the edge of the town, with RVs on one side and a parking area for large trucks on the other.

As soon as we parked the car, an old lady from the truck came over to chat. As soon as she heard that we were driving from Kentucky, she immediately became excited, and the topic jumped directly to AI, autonomous driving, and the Tesla crisis... The amount of information was so overwhelming that I couldn't calm down for a moment.

She said she didn’t trust AI very much and was worried about Tesla’s recent incidents. I nodded while listening, thinking that the old American lady knew quite a lot.

The next morning we woke up in the car. The campground where we camped at night was quite quiet. The air in the morning was a bit cool, and the sky was glowing with a light pink light. After washing and tidying up briefly, we drove to the starting point.

There are endless fields of farmland on both sides of the road. Large areas of land have not had time to grow crops and appear empty. The sun hangs low in the sky, like a small red ball, giving off a "quietness of the north".

After not driving far, we hit the gravel road, and the wheels kicked up a cloud of dust. It felt a bit like entering the "Great Plains Town" in the movie.

The starting point is near the Fargodome. The marathon is about to start and we have just arrived at the parking lot. I just thought it would be okay to join the half-marathon team and experience the starting atmosphere more.

This time I was wearing a pink Arsenal jersey, which stood out in the crowd. In the early morning, the sky in Fargo has a faint pink tint.

After starting, the track first took us into the community. The route is not complicated, just running around a neat residential area, a typical American-style community: the lawns are neatly trimmed, the houses are spacious, and there are deck chairs at the door.

At first, I was a little worried about running the wrong route. After all, the routes for full marathon and half marathon are different. But not too far away, I came across a sign indicating that the half-marathon route was diverted, so I ran up the full marathon route alone.

To say "lonely" is actually not quite accurate. Because in the community, many residents set up chairs, speakers, and barbecue grills in front of their homes early to cheer for the runners, which gives a special sense of community.

This race is a gathering event for the 50 States Marathon Club, so you can see many "old people" wearing club uniforms. The number of states they have run through is written on the back of their clothes, and each one of them is a legend.

The residents of the community along the way are also very interesting. Some are dressed as rock musicians and perform at the door with guitars; others are dressed up as "Star Wars" cosplayers; there are volunteers playing drums at the corner, and there is a lively neighborhood atmosphere all the way.

Before I knew it, I reached mile 8, and the track gradually turned from the neighborhood into downtown Fargo. Fargo's downtown is small, with old buildings and new apartments mixed together, giving it a simple, small-town industrial feel. The temperature has increased significantly here.

Exit Downtown to mile marker 10.

Next is a very distinctive section: a tunnel under the railway, with a heavy rail structure on top and concrete walls on both sides. It feels a lot cooler when you run in. Although the tunnel is not long, it is uphill when you come out, which is quite tiring.

After going uphill, there is a supply station. A group of black brothers wearing uniform jackets are filling up and handing out water. The atmosphere is particularly warm. I high-fived them and received the water, and I instantly came back to life.

Ahead is the Veterans Memorial Bridge, and the river it crosses is called the Red River of the North. It is a very historic river near the border between the United States and Canada.

Its direction is very special. It is one of the rare "northward flowing" rivers in the United States, and finally flows into Lake Winnipeg in Canada.

There is also a bagpipe and drum team wearing kilts playing on the bridge, which is really full of ceremony.

After crossing the bridge, we entered Moorhead, Minnesota, which is already the state of Minnesota. Fargo and Moorhead are just across the river, which is the equivalent of a "cross-state marathon", which is very interesting.

Here I unexpectedly ran into the same Arsenal Jersey runner I met at the Kentucky Derby Marathon two years ago. He wore the classic red home jersey this time, and I wore pink. We even said hello on the track and he still remembered me. What a coincidence!

Next the route ran into a university campus, Concordia College. Founded in 1891, this school is a private liberal arts college founded by the Norwegian immigrant community in its early years, so it has a strong Lutheran tradition. The campus has the feel of a Nordic town, with red brick buildings, church bell towers, and tree-lined paths.

The funniest thing is that their mascot is a giant "corn on the cob" standing on the roadside interacting with runners. North Dakota is a land of cornfields, so this is the perfect mascot choice.

Walking through the campus, we soon returned to the river. On the other side of the bridge, there is a mini version of the Statue of Liberty standing quietly on the street corner, watching the runners passing by.

Back to North Dakota again, this journey: starting from the Great Plains, passing through small towns, crossing state lines, running through bell towers and cornfields, getting closer and closer to the end.

Entering the last 6 miles. A makeshift symphony orchestra appeared on the side of the road: children playing violins, adults playing cellos, and others playing beats. The sun shines on the instrument, shining brightly.

Going further, I met the "Black Brothers Supply Station" again, and my smile was still so bright. Not far after the supply point, the children appeared again, some dressed as little princesses, some with bare feet, holding bags of jelly candy and handing them to passing runners.

Entering the city, there is more sunshine and a heat wave. There is a stained glass corridor on the street with trees and flowers painted on it. It looks very cool, but it does not have the effect of looking at plum blossoms to quench thirst: it is just a "visual cooling" and does not cool the body at all.

Moving forward, the most classic scene appeared: the Fargo brand! This blue vertical neon sign hangs on the exterior wall of an old theater from the 1930s and is Fargo's most famous landmark.

It used to be a cinema, but now it is a theater and performance center. This big brand will appear in almost all Fargo promotional photos, souvenirs, and even marathon medal designs. It can be said that anyone who has not taken a photo here has never been to Fargo.

When the heat comes back, you still have to run with it. Photographers were taking pictures on the street, and I also put on a "pain mask" and gritted my teeth and pretended to be cool.

He ran out of the city and entered the community again. Just when I was about to stop and go, an American female runner rushed past me and shouted to me: “Don’t stop, keep going!” This encouragement was like a shot in the arm.

Finally, the big arch at the end came into view. The host took the microphone and called out my name and reached out to give me a high five. I felt like a star. The final time was fixed at 3 hours and 53 minutes, a break of four!

Siqi was already waiting for me at the finish line, and we took a lot of photos together. The medal is held in the hand. It is a rectangular golden design with the shape of the Fargo brand engraved on it. The lines are stretched out like light, which means "lighting up the pride of the small northern town."

After running the Fargo Marathon, we did not return immediately, but followed our "usual practice" of finding a place to take a shower. There aren't many Planet Fitness locations in Fargo, and the closest one is over an hour away.

That day happened to be the Champions League final. I was using Siqi’s Starlink network in the car and watched Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter Milan 5-0 and win the Champions League for the first time.

Thinking about more than ten years ago, we had to find sports stations with poor signals. Now, after running a marathon, we can watch high-definition live broadcasts in the car while charging. It is really "technology changes life."

We checked into a small hotel that night and had a good sleep. We continued our journey the next day and had lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Fried chicken wings, burgers, and French fries, a typical American post-run meal.

Driving all the way back, when passing through Minneapolis in the evening, I stopped by for a Chinese meal. The dishes were classic, the taste was very American, and the environment was quite classy.

Driving from day to night, we made our way back to Louisville. The autonomous driving escorted us all the way. Although it took a long time, it was not too tiring.

Although the itinerary of this trip to North Dakota was compact, it included marathon running, camping, self-driving, Champions League, Chinese food, burgers... nothing was missing. It was considered a very "complete" weekend.

Looking back, I have already run in 25 states on this 50-state marathon journey.

The first one has to start with the Louisville Marathon in November 2020. It was during the epidemic at that time, and there was no systematic training. I just relied on enthusiasm and went to the North American track wearing a mask. That run was like a switch of fate being pressed.

In the past three or four years, Siqi and I drove and flew in cars, from south to north, from east to west, "lighting up" the map of the United States one by one:

From big city marathons in New York to island courses in Hawaii;

From the morning mist in Alaska to the sun and sea breeze in Florida;

From the steel bridges of Pittsburgh to the crazy climbs of the Blue Ridge Mountains;

From the high plains of Colorado to the cornfield towns of North Dakota...

Every game has a story, every game also draws a small dot on the map, and every game I want to leave words to record it.

And this stop, Fargo, happens to be the 25th state, and the Run50 journey has officially passed the "half-way watershed."

In the first 25 states, there are impulses, persistence, and many episodes;

In the next 25 states, there are mountains, deserts, grasslands, and coasts waiting for us.

On to the next state! The adventure of Westworld has just begun...

Words, photos, and layout by Arsenan