47th Grandma’s Marathon Continues Rebound

DULUTH, Minn. — The runners’ aches and pains may still be lingering, but those who help put on Grandma’s Marathon are more than pleased with how everything went.

The 47th running of the big race had good weather. And better than a strong wind at their back, was that also behind them were Covid and the lingering fears and baggage that came with it.

Last year was the first real post-Covid race, but many runners and visitors were still leery. Organizers say last year’s “Do Not Show” rate was an example, with many still staying away. They say this year’s event felt bigger, and it was.

“So, being another year removed from that certainly helped, and that’s what we expected. Even with last year being a sellout year, we didn’t feel the normal impact maybe on race weekend. This year we can say this is how we expected it to be. Not only with the participants being here, but family and friends coming with them to either volunteer or just cheer them on in support. And that translates obviously to some of the other events, like the expo, the spaghetti dinner, the Whippersnapper races. And then Bayfront on Saturday night. You know last year, the wind shifted right after the race and it was freezing at Bayfront front last year. This year we had great weather, and thousands of people stayed until the very end,” said Zach Schneider, Marketing and Public Relations Director of Grandma’s Marathon.

Schneider says organizers are pleased with how things went, that there are always little things they want to improve, and that they now have a year to get ready for 2024.