Fargo, North Dakota

North Dakota is a tough place to get to if you’re trying to save money. However, Jesus totally helped me out with the goodness of people’s hearts. I don’t understand how people can say how horrible people are when the majority is very nice and hospitable and a few that plague our news and television shows with rampant sin and destruction, setting bad examples for future generations to come. I flew up to Rhode Island for work again and was diverted to Boston … so instead of arriving at my hotel around 10:30PM, I didn’t arrive until 2:15AM. :( Let’s just say it made for a long night and a huge lack of sleep on my side. I spoke with 18 patients/clients and quickly went through their paperwork during the day and skipped lunch so I wouldn’t have to do paperwork later (it was easier since I had spoken with 17/18 people previously so they were mostly follow ups, it would have been very difficult if I had initials and follow ups mixed in together.) Immediately after I finished working I was whisked off to the airport and flew down to Charlotte and then up to Minneapolis where I would CS for the night near the airport and get dropped off at 7:30AM to await the arrival of the couple who was also heading from Minneapolis to Fargo for the marathon. Thanks to the 50 States Marathon Club’s connections, this was made a possibility.

I was trying to study … but it turned into a brief study session and a nap time in the comfy chairs by baggage claim in the smaller terminal 2 of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport… whoops! They arrived and we headed out toward Fargo, but not without stopping by Noodles & Co. to have some lunch. We got to the expo where they had run out of pins for our bibs…  But luckily we spotted quite a few on the ground and were able to find enough for each of us to have 4. Ghetto? Yeah, apparently the 5k people and earlier people had grabbed handfuls of pins instead of just taking 4 or possibly 5 in case one was busted.
They went to the pasta dinner there at the expo and my CS host from Fargo picked me up from the expo and her roommate was cooking curry and it was delicious! And yet she said it was super simple to make… I will have to start making curry at home… :) They had another CS hostee to was also running the marathon. I was pleased that he was also laid back and not super intense about getting there early to the start or worried about a certain time and he just came to run.

Our host dropped us off a few blocks from the start and we went to the very back of the pack to start the run. We ran together for about the first 10k and then he needed to use the restroom… so I went on ahead… then I had to use the restroom so he went on ahead and I never caught up due to lack of training and my bum ankle. I was just there to finish… and as my motto goes ‘live to run another day’. I think I ended up cheering for at least half of the marathon participants since it was an out and back course so I saw people from the 3 hour mark to the 5+ hour mark. (Well, I finished at 5:14 or so, so of course I could cheer for those around me.) I didn’t end up talking to as many people/running with as many people as I usually do since my pace wasn’t the same with my ankle. I am not too sore, but I did get a few blisters from trying to compensate and avoid hurting my ankle too much. :( No chafers though! Hoorah! Perfect weather! I am glad me and Jesus are BFF and He can control the weather and even the wind listens to Him! (It was about 94 degrees Friday evening around 7PM and then it rained all night to cool off the temperature before the marathon… and it spit a little at us Saturday morning but it never rained during the marathon so that was awesome! Thanks JESUS! You’re the best!!)

I hope that I helped motivate some people as they were running/walking/jogging along and I cheered for them. One woman found me after the race and said that I helped her a lot when I encouraged her and told her to keep her head up and keep going. :) It always makes me happy when people find my encouragement helpful! They had awesome soup post race (chicken and wild rice) and some icky pizza, but it tasted much better after running a marathon than it would have without. The cookie dough was a nice surprise and quite delightful after running. I got a bunch of little random snacks and the other CS marathoner and I started walking back to our host’s house. We got about halfway there and got picked up near Dairy Queen on University Drive…. Went back, took showers and took naps! Naps were awesome. :) Nathan woke me up during my nap, but we got up and got some food anyway… before coming back and sleeping more.

Overall, it’s been a good trip. Fargo, North Dakota has good people-there were tons of people outside their houses cheering us on. Maybe it’s because there isn’t anything better to do on a Saturday morning, but it was nice to have so many spectators in a small town. It was definitely a pleasant surprise! I love marathoners too, what a great community. Well, it was good times. I’m currently with another CS person from Fargo and just attended her church – First Lutheran Church in Fargo. It was a good service. Hopefully I can get some of this studying done and pass this pre-test! Thanks God for watching out for me and for the good, safe trip. Please help me study and get all of this done that I need to get done… and please help my ankle to feel better since I have 3 more marathons in June! You’re the best. -run for life.

P.S. After I wrote this... I walked around Fargo, got my jumping picture... and then my flight was canceled. :( I'm in Fargo for another day and by the time I found out my flight was canceled, it was too late to call my patients in-person that I have tomorrow to let them know that I would have to reschedule with them. :( Sigh. At least God always keeps me safe. I'd rather be delayed than dead.