FARGO -- Winning the Colorado Marathon in 2013 was a pretty special moment for Ellie Peterson, who lives in Windsor, Colo. But the following year was anything but memorable -- she took a year off from marathons because of injuries.
So that perhaps made winning Saturday's Scheels Fargo Marathon women's division another trip down a special lane.
"You get so discouraged when you're injured and, to come back and win like this, it's unbelievable," she said.
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Peterson suffered a stress fracture in the 2013 Indianapolis Marathon and had setbacks related to that injury.
On Saturday, she ditched her closest competition in a stretch of course through Minnesota State University Moorhead, between miles 11 and 12, and easily won with a time of 2 hours, 49 minutes, 13 seconds.
Margaret Ludick of Birchwood, Minn., was second at 2:57.05.
Everything about the course was to Peterson's liking, including the 32-degree weather at the 7:30 a.m. start. She liked the section of bike trails secluded by trees along the Red River. She liked the many turns on the course.
"All that stuff keeps me engaged," she said. "Going through the campuses and all the trees, it was awesome."
Peterson, 25, works in sales in Windsor and runs for a local track club. Not particularly into track and field while in college at Dakota Wesleyan in Mitchell, S.D., she's found her niche in long-distance running.
"It's something I can do competitively and something I can continue to do as an adult," she said.
It was her fifth marathon overall and the first time to Fargo.
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"I just heard really great things about it; I heard it's a faster course and the weather is usually pretty good," she said. "And I have relatives in Minnesota so I have family here. It was awesome. There's nothing like the feeling of winning. Amazing."
