Grandma's

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

is an annual road race held each June in Duluth,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The course runs point-to-point from the city of Two Harbors on Scenic Route 61 and continues along

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

into the city of Duluth. The finish is located in Canal Park, near Grandma's Restaurant, which is next to the highly visible Aerial Lift Bridge.

Race history

Grandma's was first run in 1977 with only 150 participants; the first race was won by Minnesotan and 1976 Olympic 10000m runner

Garry Bjorklund Garry Brian Bjorklund (born April 22, 1951) is an American middle- and long-distance runner. He represented the United States in the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 10,000 meters. As a high schooler, he set a Minnesota state record for the mile run wh ...

. The newly opened Grandma's Restaurant was the only local business that would sponsor the then-fledgling event, for the fee of $600. Race organizers then named the new race after the restaurant. Grandma's Marathon is now run by almost 10,000 runners every year, has nearly a $2 million operating budget and is credited with bringing tens of millions of tourist dollars into the city of Duluth. The men's record time for Grandma's is 2:09:06, set in 2014 by

Dominic Ondoro Dominic Ondoro (born March 3, 1988, also known as Pius Dominic Ondoro) is a Kenyan long-distance runner best known for holding the course records at Minnesota's Grandma's Marathon and the Twin Cities Marathon. He has won many other major marathons ...

of Kenya. The previous record of 2:09:37, set in 1981 by Wayzata, Minnesota, native

Dick Beardsley Dick Beardsley (born March 21, 1956) is an American long-distance runner best known for tying for first place with Inge Simonsen in the inaugural 1981 London Marathon and his close finish with Alberto Salazar in the 1982 Boston Marathon. Ru ...

stood for 33 years before being broken. The women's record time is 2:24:28, set in 2018 by

Kellyn Taylor Kellyn Taylor ''née'' Johnson (born July 22, 1986) is an American long distance runner. Prep Kellyn graduated from Sussex Hamilton High School in Wisconsin where she was a state 1600 meter champion as a senior. Kellyn earned District Runner of ...

. In 2005,

Halina Karnatsevich Halina Karnatsevich, née Baruk ( be, Галiна Карнацэвiч, born 2 November 1969) is a Belarusian long-distance runner. She finished twelfth in the marathon at the 2005 World Championships in a personal best time of 2:27:14 hours. In ...

was the first finisher with a time of 2:33:39 but she was later disqualified for failing her post-race doping test. The race is a major event on the North Shore, filling hotels in many cities around Duluth. Thousands of runners and visitors fill the marathon, half and 5K races. After high numbers in the '90s and '00s, 2009 was the first time in 15 years that all of the 9,500 available spots were not filled, leading to a deficit in the race budget. Executive director Scott Keenan suggested that the economy was the main reason for the downturn in participants. Lifetime entries were offered in 1987 (for $100) and again in 1990 (for $125) to help increase the number of runners entering the race. The 35th edition of the marathon in 2011 had its first

photo-finish A photo finish occurs in a sporting race when multiple competitors cross the finishing line at nearly the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to determine which of the competitors crossed the line first, a photo or video taken at the finis ...

: eventual winner Christopher Kipyego mistook the electronic timing mat for the finish point and prematurely stopped, leading to an impromptu sprint finish against Teklu Deneke. Just two tenths of a second ended up separating the pair. The 37th running of the race in 2013 saw the first time that more people registered for the Bjorklund Half Marathon than Grandma's Marathon. There were 7,835 registered for the Bjorklund Half Marathon but only 7,338 people registered for Grandma's Marathon. The 40th annual race in 2016 set a record for the largest number of finishers at 7,522. 2016 also saw a record number of female finishers at 3,742, just short of the men's total at 3,780. The race was run every year for 44 years until the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. Race officials monitored the spread of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in the state, and as the count of infected grew in St. Louis County, concerns mounted. On March 25, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced a "stay at home" executive order for all citizens of the state. Three days into the "stay at home" order, Grandma's Marathon officials announced that, for the first time, the marathon, the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon and the William A. Irvin 5K would be canceled. No refunds or deferments were granted, but officials offered those who had already signed up a 40 percent discount on the 2021 or 2022 race.

Race Weekend

Al Franken and Wesley Ngetich Kimutai in the 2007 Grandma's Marathon

What started in 1977 as a single race has grown to a weekend of running events hosted by the Grandma's Marathon organization. Thursday starts the health expo at the

Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC) is a multi-purpose arena and convention center complex located in Duluth, Minnesota. It was home to the University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog hockey team from 1966 to 2010. The DECC is located on th ...

. Races begin Friday, kicked off with Whipper Snapper races for kids at Bayfront Festival Park, followed by the William A. Irvin 5K, which was first run in 1994. The race is named after the Great Lakes ore boat docked in the slip at the canal; the course starts at the stern, circles the canal area and finishes at the bow. Nearly 2,000 runners participate. Early Saturday morning, the

Half Marathon, kicks off, sending more than 7,000 runners south on Scenic Route 61 to Duluth. The half marathon was first run in 1991 and has since eclipsed the marathon in participation by a few hundred runners. The race starts near the Talmadge River. The full marathon begins an hour after the half marathon starts. Throughout the rest of the year, the Grandma's Marathon organization runs other races, such as the Fitger's 5k, the Park Point 5 Miler, and the Grandma's Minnesota Mile.

Past winners

Key: *''After canceling the race, organizers planned to do a "virtual race."''

Past winners of the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

2022—Men: Daniel Kemoi (KEN), 35, 1:02:03 2022—Women: Rosie Edwards (UK), 33, 1:12:45 ...

References

*Jack Moran & Malcolm Heyworth (2010-06-20)
Grandma's Marathon

Association of Road Racing Statisticians The Association of Road Racing Statisticians is an independent, non-profit organization that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics regarding road running races. The primary purpose of the ARRS is to maintain a valid list of world road record ...

. Retrieved on 2011-06-19.

External links