FARGO -- It was several miles of local television fame for North Dakota State University student Keith Lehman, a 20-year-old who hung with an experienced Kenyan runner for 10 miles of the Scheels Fargo Marathon Saturday morning.
A 2013 Fargo North graduate, he ran his old neighborhood streets alongside eventual winner David Tuwei after starting inside the Fargodome. Lehman was realistic about it, too.
"I knew he was sandbagging pretty hard," Lehman said. "My plan was to just go out at my pace and, when he started, he was running at my tempo."
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The first mile was 5 minutes, 58 seconds. By miles 10 through the finish, Tuwei lowered that to the 5:30-range and won easily in the 11th annual event.
It was the second marathon win in three weeks for Tuwei, who won the Illinois Marathon on April 25. To win back-to-back 26.2-mile races in that short a span is something not seen very often in the sport.
"You have to make sacrifices," said William Kosgei, his agent. "In Illinois, he was way behind until the last five miles. The guy was leading by three minutes, but (Tuwei) never quit. It's a lot of training and a lot of sacrifice."
Tuwei runs for Kosgei's Duma Runners Club out of Coon Rapids, Minn., which has sent runners to Fargo throughout the 11-year run.
"It was an OK race, but I wish he would have had some competition," Kosgei said.
Defending champion Peter Kemboi and last year's runner-up, Arturs Bareikis, both of whom had bib numbers for this year, did not run. Tuwei, 36, has been entered several times in the Fargo Marathon but didn't run for various reasons. There was no stopping him this year, Kosgei said.
"This time he said, no matter what, I'm coming here," he said. "He wanted to run Illinois and then wanted to run Fargo and I said, 'How are you going to do it?'"
Tuwei finished with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 15 seconds, more than eight minutes off the course record. Lehman, who took fifth last year, finished second in 2:30.41.
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A self-described mediocre high school runner, Lehman thought about running track at NDSU, but decided against it.
"I like the marathon and NDSU doesn't have that," he said.
MEN’S FULL MARATHON (OFFICIAL)
Top 10 finishers
1, David Tuwei, 36, Minneapolis, 2:27:15
2, Keith Lehman, 20, Fargo, 2:30:41
3, Adam Pangrac, 27, Fargo, 2:36:20
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4, Benjamin Melby, 35, Fargo, 2:38:57
5, Gary Krugger, 30, Flagstaff, Ariz., 2:39:44
6, Paul Shol, 28, Fergus Falls, Minn., 2:41:25
7, Francesco Arato, 44, West Chicago, Ill., 2:42:04
8, Keith Browning, 43, Bolingbrook, Ill., 2:42:39
9, Kirouac Justin, 30, Winnipeg, MB, 2:43:03
10, Benjamin Kirmse, 31, Maplewood, Minn., 2:44:50
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Top 20 area finishers outside of top 10
22, Troy Ivesdal, 42, Fargo, 2:56:16
27, Jonathan Morgenroth, 31, Moorhead, 2:58:26
28, James Botnen, 28, Kindred, N.D., 2:58:28
29, Kent Orvik, 34, Moorhead, 2:59:00
38, Taddele Gebretsadkan, 35, Fargo, 3:02:32
50, Chris Strand, 27, Fargo, 3:04:24
52, Joseph Kallenbach, 27, Fargo, 3:04:27
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67, Ray Wohl, 45, West Fargo, 3:06:45
68, Kyle Pederson, 23, Fargo, 3:06:46
75, Connor Baker, 23, Fargo, 3:08:45
84, Travis Husen, 27, Fargo, 3:11:10
87, Jordan Lutz, 25, Fargo, 3:12:01
98, Brent Hanson, 33, Perham, Minn., 3:14:59
99, Richie Depaolis-Metz, 30, Moorhead, 3:15:05
105, Paul Frank, 36, Fargo, 3:16:29
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107, Jeff McKinnon, 40, Fargo, 3:17:05
110, Steven Monk, 24, Fargo, 3:17:25
111, Todd Schuldt, 26, Minneapolis, 3:17:33
115, David Erickson, 30, Moorhead, 3:18:19
119, Aaron Tait, 27, Detroit Lakes, Minn., 3:18:54
