The description of Minnesota's climate was lost in translation

Last update: October 7, 2007 - 10:30 PM

Sergio Madero's cousin called him from Minnesota some time ago and implored him to venture north from his home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to run in the Twin Cities Marathon.

"She invited me," Madero said Sunday, as he strode toward the State Capitol steps. "And then she went back home to Juarez and stayed, and here I am, all alone."

All alone with 10,500 runners who gathered before dawn at the Metrodome. Madero, though, probably was the only one who pulled a small Mexican flag from his pocket and held it over his head as he crossed the finish line, a huge smile on his face.

"It is amazingly hot here," he said as sweat ran down his cheeks.

Someone reminded Madero, a 38-year-old lawyer who finished in 3:54:28, that he's from Mexico.

"Juarez is dry, desert," he said. "We don't have humidity like this. At the halfway point, that's when I could really feel it. They told me it was cold here. Somebody wasn't telling the truth."

JERRY ZGODA