Fargo, North Dakota residents must feel they have been invaded by Minnesota. The results are in, and Minnesota runners have won this year's Fargo Marathon. They also have taken the half-marathon events.
Peter Gilman, 34, of Rochester, Minn., won Saturday's marathon in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 54 seconds, breaking the Fargo Marathon record by nearly six minutes. Meanwhile, Nicole Cueno, 29, of Minneapolis, Minn. won the women's Fargo Marathon in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 52 minutes and 16 seconds.
In the Fargo half-marathon results, Chris Erichsen of Minneapolis, Minn. and Lindsey Hinkels of Mankato, Minn., won.
Two interesting side-notes in the 2009 Fargo Marathon. This year's route was changed because of the Red River flooding. While the course for the last four years has meandered near the Red River in Fargo and neighboring Moorhead, Minn., this year the route was reduced to a 13.1-mile two-loop course.
Additionally, one runner, Kurt Philion, vowed to run the entire marathon carrying a U.S. flag. The flag is a tribute to his good friend, Corey Rystad of Red Lake Falls, Minn., who was killed in Iraq in Dec. 2006. Last year he did the same, running the entire 26 miles carrying the flag.
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