McFeely: As Fargo Marathon loses some juice, so does party vibe on 8th Street

FARGO The Fargo Marathon isn't what it once was, but what is? In a town that's bored with national championships from its local college football team, it's unlikely a marathon could retain the juice of its glory years.

On historic Eighth Street south of downtown, the evidence was clear Saturday morning.

What was once Party Central for the marathon, with booze and bands, looked and sounded closer to a golf tournament than a kegger.

Different vibe from the heyday of 10 years ago when the street was lined with people and parties, especially on the end nearer downtown.

"It isn't quite the same.

I used to go hard all morning," chuckled Gary Haugo, sitting in a lawn chair along the boulevard in the 800 block of Eighth Street South.

"Now, I'll probably wait until 10:30 and have one beer.

Maybe we're getting old.

We've gentrified." "We used to walk along and have a beer here and a bloody Mary there," said Gary Secor, standing outside his former home on the 1400 block of Eighth Street where his daughter now resides.

"It's not as busy.

There used to be a lot of people walking up and down the street, bicycles and kids and more dogs.

I think there's just fewer people." Let's keep this in perspective.

There were still plenty of runners in various stages of exhilaration and pain making their way down the street.

About 2,000 marathoners started the 26.2-mile race a little after 7 a.m.

Saturday, part of the approximately 11,500 total runners for this week's festivities.

It still took nearly six minutes for all the half-marathoners to get through the starting line on 17th Avenue North between the Fargodome and old Dacotah Field.

The marathon isn't dead, but it's clearly down from the peak.

There were years when 22,000 people signed up to put one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles, 13.1 miles for the half-marathon, 10 kilometers, 5 kilometers or the youth run.

On the flip side: Organizers were jacked in 2005 when registrations surpassed 1,000 a couple of months before the race.

It seemed as if the eventual 2,400 runners who participated were once unthinkable.

There were still dozens of people standing and sitting along Eighth Street on Saturday, holding signs and cheering the runners.

Some kids were handing out orange wedges.

But like the marathon itself, the numbers and enthusiasm were down.

In the 1200 block, John Nolan was cranking tunes on a sound system in his front yard to boost the atmosphere.

Dion's "Runaround Sue" blasting at 8:15 a.m.

is one way to get the blood flowing.

"I do the same thing every Halloween," Nolan said.

"I get a thousand kids.

I put the music up, and I got people dancing out here." There was nobody dancing Saturday.

He's been in the house 11 years and has noticed a drop in buzz the last several marathons.

"The first couple of years we were here, they had something close to 20,000 runners, and there was live music along here, parties.

It's gone down.

So, I bring this out just to provide a little music," he said.

"But nowadays everybody has earbuds, so they don't care." Two blocks south, the lone live band on Eighth Street was cranking things up.

ToneWood guitarist/vocalist Nick Wood, bassist Joe Martinetti and drummer Eric Gilson opened with Pink Floyd.

As "Another Brick in the Wall" wrapped up, the band took a request from a runner.

"Rage Against the Machine!" the runner shouted as he jogged past, cupping his mouth with his hands.

"Hmmm, not sure that's appropriate for the kids and families," Wood said.

"Maybe we'll go with some Green Day." "Basket Case" it was, although the band changed words in that song, too, to make it family-friendly.

"I went to a friend, he said my life's a bore" just doesn't have the same punch.

One consistent theme from residents along Eighth, whether or not they are quoted in this column: They miss Mark Knutson, the longtime owner/race director/nonstop booster of the event.

Knutson was killed in a bicycle-car crash in 2023, and his presence is definitely missed.

There's nobody promoting the marathon anymore.

There's nobody cheerleading.

Communication from the marathon has dwindled.

"I wish it would go back to local ownership.

The corporation running it now ...

it's just not the same," said one resident who asked not to be identified.

Jennifer and Brad Dahl, on the 1500 block of Eighth Street, had a DJ in their front yard, working with the marathon as hosts.

Has Jennifer Dahl noticed enthusiasm for the marathon waning in the neighborhood? "Absolutely.

I think the local support, it might get a little jaded after a while," she said.

"So, I felt like we need to keep stepping it up.

We really enjoy it.

We invite friends and family, and the neighbors come over.

...

I think it's a great event for Fargo, great entertainment, and I think people are missing out if they are not out on the streets today.".

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