2025 Grandma’s Race Weekend Recap- Tanya

I ran my first ever Grandma’s marathon weekend event in 2015. Since then, I’ve experienced everything on race day from steady rain, to the dreaded black flag. This year’s race weekend was an eventful one, including new and adjusted start times. Even in June, Duluth weather can change drastically from one day to the next, and after a decade along the North Shore, my motto for this weekend has become “expect the unexpected.”

Our family headed up to Duluth in the morning on Thursday, with plans to attend the expo later that evening. I’ve ran the 5K on Friday the past few years, and being able to pick up my packet on Thursday is always a great way to help avoid feeling more rushed come race time on Friday. Packet pick up was a breeze, as always, with the help of some amazing volunteers. I felt like the expo on Thursday was more crowded than usual, which was actually a nice thing to see.

This year, the 5K start time was moved from 6pm to 1pm. Admittedly, I wasn’t too keen on the change when I first found out. But as they say, change can be a good thing, and in this case, I was surprised at how happy I was to have more down time on Friday after the race, before settling in for the night. I don’t know if this will be a permanent thing, but I’d be all for it if it remains that way in the future.

After making sure I had all my Saturday race necessities laid out and accounted for, I did what any runner does when they run Grandma’s marathon or the Garry Bjorklund half… I started stalking the weather. I knew storms were moving in overnight, but I wasn’t sure of the intensity or the timing, as that seemed to be an ever evolving situation. History has shown that regardless of what Mother Nature hands us, race coordinators do a great job of communicating via email and social media on any potential changes that will affect the races.

True to form, we received news in the wee hours of Saturday morning that due to heavy rain, lightning and intense wind gusts, everything was delayed by 30 minutes. This appeared to be a pretty fast moving storm, thank goodness, as by the time I boarded the shuttle bus from the DECC at shortly after 5am, the rain had stopped and even the winds had died down considerably. The humidity was already starting to really kick in, though, so I braced myself for a warm one. Also, despite the line being super long when I arrived, there were plenty of busses waiting, and I was headed to the half marathon start in no time.

Last year, Grandma’s had implemented a Corral system for both the full and the half, but this year it was a little different. The half had three corrals, and I was in the third one. After stepping off the shuttle bus, there was the usual short walk to the starting area. A short distance from the actual start line, the road was sectioned off into the three separate corrals, going from 3 to 1, left to right. This is where it sort of got a little tricky.

Corral 3, which was the last to go with the staggered start time times, overflowed well past the corral entrance. There were also a few porta potties right along there, so it became a little confusing as to who was in line for those, and who simply wanted to enter the corral area itself. Volunteers were placed right at the entrances, and were truly amazing. They did a great job of making sure runners were in the correct corral, and letting us know what to expect once we were allowed to shift forward, closer to the start line. I can’t stress this enough…the race volunteers during Grandma’s weekend are the best!

Before I knew it, Corral 3 was off! I had no goals for this race, other than to beat my time from my half marathon in Nashville in April. (spoiler alert: I beat that time by 11 minutes!) Even before the crowds really ramp up once you hit London Road around mile 6 of the half, Duluth has some of the best crowd support! For me, crowd support and funny signs are what help get me through these longer races. A couple of my favorite signs were “At least it’s not 13.2” and one that simply read “motivational sign.”

Weather wise, there wasn’t much of a lake breeze, and the humidity just kept going up. Thankfully for most of the half marathoners, the sky remained overcast the entire time, but shortly after I finished at just past 10am, the clouds broke and the sun came out in full force. The EAS color flag would eventually hit Red later that day, which sadly affected quite a few full marathoners. Huge congrats are in order for anyone who was able to finish the full marathon this year!

An additional change this year came in the form of receiving my challenge medal for completing the Great Grandma’s half challenge. Typically there is a booth in the post-race food area where runners can pick up their challenge medals. Expecting this, I was pleasantly surprised when I was handed my challenge medal at the finish line, right after receiving my half one. While I was thankful to not have to go and seek it out, I don’t know if this change was due to the weather, or will be a permanent thing. I’m also not sure if there was just one person handing out challenge medals, or multiple people. I’m hoping it was multiple volunteers, as I feel like runners could be missed this way, especially if there’s an influx of finishers at one time.

This year’s finisher shirts were also different. They were a softer, non-wicking material, more of an every day wear type of shirt. While it’s took some getting used to, departing from the usual performance style, I like that they’re trying something new, knowing that it may not appeal to everyone.

Post race festivities for me included a nap, a drive down to Park Point, and some amazing Mexican food at a small establishment downtown. Overall, this was another great weekend in one of my favorite cities. 2026 will be the 50^th anniversary of the full marathon, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a small part of me is considering coming out of my self-imposed marathon distance retirement to run it.

Guess I have until October 1^st, when registration opens for next year, to decide. Decision, decisions.