EVENT REPORT: Grandma's Marathon

On Saturday, my daughter and I had a great morning of spectating at Grandma's Marathon, not to mention my wife Abby running a fantastic half marathon!

As we were camping a a state park along Lake Superior's "north shore", the day started very early with the runners waking up at 4AM and on the road shortly after for the very early 6:30 AM start time. While this is early, in hindsight, it was nice for Abby to be done with her race and showered with coffee in hand by 9:00!

The winner of the ladies marathon, Deba Buzunesh of Ethiopia in the final mile

With the race generally heading southwest along the shore of Lake Superior, the strong west wind slowed the pace a bit for all runners. Still the winning times were relatively fast, including the lead lady at 2:31:35 and the lead man coming in with a time of 2:15:44 (as a point of comparison, Dick Beardsley's record setting time was 2:09:37).

Kenyans took the top 5 places in the men's marathon, including the above 3rd and 4th place

After spectating Grandma's, I'm again reminded at what a world class event this is. From the organization, to the great volunteers, to the amazing course, it is without question one of the top running events globally - one that you should be a part of!

My parting image: The final mile of the course on the cobble Superior Street in downtown Duluth is a spectacular finish to a world class race!