Luke Watson Wins Fargo Marathon

An American beat a Kenyan in the Peace Garden State.

Thirty-year-old Luke Watson from State College, Pennsylvania won the Fargo Marathon on Saturday. His winning time was 2:22:50. Second place went to Jerry Faulkner who came across the line almost two minutes after Watson. Race-day conditions were far from ideal: humid and warm.

According to a race report posted on Inforum.com, Watson was practically a “wire-to-wire winner”. He netted $1500 for his efforts in the seventh edition of North Dakota’s largest marathon.

“I put in surges every mile around 16, 17 and 18,” recalled Watson. “But it’s never over. I’ve seen people have epic breakdowns in the last three miles. I never took it for granted until I was in the dome and crossed the finish line.”

Though it made winning seem easy, Watson said it was anything but. He noted that his hamstrings began to tighten up late in the race.

The race appeared to be a two-man contest between Watson and Kenyan national Hillary Cheruiyot who lives in Michigan.

“It’s been frustrating for him,” William Kosgei, Cheruiyot’s coach, said of his athlete. “He never had it training in Kenya. We don’t know what’s going on. We don’t know the cause of it.”

For More: Inforum