Black Lives plans peaceful protest at Twin Cities Marathon

The group started the protest at Boyd Park in St. Paul and then marched to near the race finish line.

Dubbed “The Most handsome Urban Marathon in America” by Runner’s World, the 26.2-mile course meanders from downtown Minneapolis to the state Capitol in St. Paul. As of 1 p.m. Sunday, no arrests were made, said the police department.

A potential disruption raised fears among runners who had trained for months.

Police expected them to head directly to the open field right next to the Cathedral of St. Paul, but instead they took an alternate route.

Almost 20,000 runners competed in various events.

“Black Lives organizers kept their promise and didn’t disrupt the Twin Cities marathon, but they did go off course from their initial plan”, officials said.

Mayor Chris Coleman said the group’s leader, Rashad Turner, assured him protesters wouldn’t interfere with runners and the rally would be peaceful.

Dominic Ondoro won the race with an unofficial time of two hours and 11 minutes, according to Twin Cities in Motion, the organization that puts on the race.