Grandma’s Marathon Offers Virtual Race for 2020

23rd Veteran is hosting a free, virtual training event to help keep people motivated and reaching their goals for Grandma's Marathon.

DULUTH, Minn. – Although Grandma’s Marathon 2020 is canceled due to the coronavirus, the organization still wants to honor those runners for their accomplishments and keep them motivated.

Grandma’s Marathon will have a virtual race for the full marathon, the Garry Bjorklund half and the William A. Irvin 5K. Starting May 4 through July 31, runners can run their race and submit their time online. After, runners will receive their shirt and a medal.

Although Grandma’s Marathon is disappointed to have to cancel, they’re hoping this virtual race will encourage runners to still reach their goals.

“It just seemed like a really good way for them to keep up with their program, keep training, keep working towards that race. Yes it’s going to be a completely different race but they’ll still have that sense of accomplishment when they’ve completed their race,” Grandma’s Marathon marketing and public relations director Mandi Peterson said.

And multiple organizations are doing what they can to motivate runners, including 23rd Veteran. Runners can join a free Facebook group called #RunTheVirus, where people can share how they are still training and motivate each other.

23rd Veteran will then have a virtual run on June 20, the original date of Grandma’s Marathon, giving participants a sense of community.

“We believe that people need this community. We have something we can offer. We can offer camaraderie building, we can offer successful virtual races and virtual communities. This is the time more than any that we want to try to get people out of that complete isolation. We’re doing whatever we can to help people with their mental wellness and making sure they still feel like they’re part of the community and on top of them, encourage them to get out and run,” 23rd Veteran executive director Mike Waldron said.

Head to the Grandma’s Marathon website for more information on the virtual races and head to the 23rd Veteran’s website for more information on how to get involved in their event.