North Dakota’s running and biking events boost health, tourism, and local spirit
From marathons to mud runs, races have something for everyone
Each year, streets in communities big and small across North Dakota fill with the shuffle of feet as runners pound the pavement, volunteers pass out water, and families cheer on their runners from the side of the road.
For the marathons, it is more than just reaching the 26.2 mile mark - it’s an annual ritual.
Some runners chase personal bests. Others run or walk a race for the first time, choosing a 5K to get moving with a marathon possibly on the horizon. Still others push strollers, jog with dogs, or don wacky costumes to make the event more fun.
For most participants, races like these offer a chance to get outdoors, come together as a community, leave worries behind, and share in something larger.
Across North Dakota, more than 57 running races - road races, trail runs, mud runs, triathlons, endurance events - were on the slate for 2025. More than a dozen biking - gravel, mountain and road - races were also on offer. Numbers of racers can range from a few dozen to several thousand.
But these events aren’t just about competition or supporting local charities; they help drive local economies, establish personal connections and inspire healthier lives for at least a day, and perhaps longer.
Engines for tourism
Sara Otte Coleman, director of the North Dakota Department of Commerce’s tourism and marketing division, says races like these are magnets for out-of-state visitors.
“Races are a big deal. People will travel to participate, train for a specific event, and often turn it into a long weekend,” she said.
The Fargo Marathon, a qualifier race for those looking to attempt the Boston Marathon, is the top-drawing race in the state. This past May, more than 11,000 participants ran or walked the race.
Coleman said the marathon generated an estimated $3.6 million for the local economy and 80 percent of racers came from outside the Fargo region.
For the Bismarck Marathon, which celebrated its 44th year on September 20, about half of the 1,500 plus participants come from outside the Bismarck–Mandan area.
This year, runners descended on Bismarck from 47 states as well as from Canada, Australia, Ukraine and Germany to participate. Organizers said the average distance traveled is 201 miles just to reach the starting line.
Patrick Johnson, co-director of the Bismarck Marathon, notes that many runners don’t merely race and then leave right away afterwards, but often stay for several days at a time.
Johnson mentioned one example of a group that came in from Colorado last year as part of their goal of competing in a marathon in all 50 states. It’s a story he often hears.
“They spent like four days here and went to local bars and restaurants and had a big impact on tourism just with their group,” Johnson said. “It’s cool to be able to showcase your community. That’s part of what we want to do.”
A story of rebound
Community racing is proving to be resilient. While some races haven’t seen numbers rebound to pre-pandemic levels, others have begun outpacing earlier figures.
While the Bismarck Marathon was cancelled in 2020 because of Covid, it was back to 2019 levels by 2022 and saw a record number of racers in 2023 with 1,778.
Johnson says this rebound is grounded in more than just numbers.
“People definitely have the desire to get out and do stuff like this,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to really focus on the runner experience, which has to be at the core and heart of what you do, but we’re also trying to make it more community involved and to make it sustainable.”
While marathons might be the signature races for Bismarck and Fargo, western North Dakota’s mountain bike and trail races feature more grit and gravel.
Nick Ybarra, founder of the Badlands Race Series, launched the original 100-mile mountain bike event on the Maah Daah Hey Trail in 2012 as a free race with 67 riders from across the country.
Since then, that event series has grown into several other bike races along with a trail running series that has now become the biggest draw.
This past July, the trail runs - which include an introductory 5K on up to a grueling 116-mile endurance race - had participants from all 50 states and runners from neighboring Mexico and Canada.
Over 1,200 runners participated this year, making it the largest turnout yet.
“We need - our country needs - right now, things that bring a variety of people together,” Ybarra said of the importance of races like these.
“We can all agree that humans are made for movement, and these races have an opportunity to be a life-changing event for someone.”
On the tourism side, Ybarra said businesses in Medora and Watford City at the trailheads of the MDH trail take notice when the events occur. Some get their best business during those times, he said.
“When we launched the mountain bike race, it was so cool to see, for the first time ever, the main street (in Watford City) looked like Moab, like every other car had a bike rack on it,” Ybarra said, referring to the mountain biking mecca in Utah.
“It felt so exciting and that's only grown,” Ybarra said. “It's been a really good thing for both communities.”
Mud, laughter, and a major rush
If the Badlands offers rugged and remote, Bismarck’s Medieval Rush balances grit with festivity.
Started in 2012 by Bismarck-native Tanner Schweitzer, the event has gone through several venues before settling into the area around Bismarck State College in recent years.
The mud run’s latest design will route runners through a revamped course next June: a 5K run with 30 obstacles for adults, including mud pits, rope climbs, tire flips, a warped wall, and much more.
“It’s such a release and it's so fun, and it’s as challenging as you want to make it,” Schweitzer said. “People can walk, they can bypass obstacles … we want to target a crowd that is not competitive.”
The nearly mile-long kids’ course is also a highlight: slip-and-slides, mud pits, small climbs, and obstacles scaled down so younger participants can complete them with joy.
“They just rip it up and they love it,” Schweitzer said of the youth participants. “They go through the mud, go on the slip-and-slide, and the parents get photos … it’s amazing.”
At its peak before Covid, Medieval Rush drew around 1,000 participants with some runners coming from as far away as Hawaii and Florida.
While numbers have softened in the past few years, Schweitzer is hopeful more people will get out and challenge themselves - and have fun - at the race next summer.
Building better habits
Race events do more than draw crowds. They also help people build healthier habits. Many racers begin with modest goals - walking or running 5Ks or 10Ks – before stepping up to bigger challenges.
“I correlate it to like a wedding - you put the date on it and everybody saves the date and you get a group together who maybe would never see each other in one place without that target on the calendar,” Ybarra said.
“Personally, you take it seriously and it motivates you to stick to a training plan,” he added.
Johnson has also seen that arc in Bismarck. Many marathon runners started with shorter races.
“I think it’s huge to have entry points, so people can get into it and not feel overwhelmed,” Johnson said. “If you break it down into small chunks, it's entirely doable.”
Coleman emphasized that most racing events also have entry points that encourage youth involvement.
“We all need to think about how we can keep healthy lifestyles going,” Coleman said. “Every time I see the statistics, I just scratch my head, but the average TikTok user spends 120 minutes a day on TikTok. And then you think about what that does to health, and mind and body.”
Coleman mentioned how these events - whether the races themselves or other activities around them - can be a catalyst for more active, healthy lifestyles.
“People coalesce around them, and they have parades and they have events, and it brings the community in, and then people see it, and then they might be more interested in doing it or getting their kids involved,” she said.
In North Dakota, that shared spirit is carrying communities forward—mile by mile, wheel by wheel, muddy pit by muddy pit.
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