The north shore of Minnesota will always be one of my favorite places I have ever been, nationally or internationally. For folks outside of the Midwest and Minnesota in particular, it is often a surprise when they visit the Duluth area for the first time and witness first-hand all that the area has to offer: incredible hiking, beautiful mountain biking trails, countless waterfalls, the way the topography changes as you get farther north, small towns along Lake Superior with truly local shopping experiences, lighthouses, beaches, deep forests, rocky shorelines, and for me, the profound sense of reflection and interconnectedness that comes with going to the north shore and being in nature. If you’re lucky enough to share the drive with someone, be sure to put your phone away (except, perhaps, to capture a few photos) as you edge closer to Duluth to make sure you don’t miss out on it. Shoreline over scrolling, always.
The shoreline, pristine wilderness, and 10,000 acres of state-managed land are both part of what makes Duluth so special, and what can make lodging tricky during Grandma’s Marathon weekend in particular. Any beautiful weekend up north, whether for leaf-viewing, spring wildflowers, summer cycling, winter skiing, or time meandering through town can get busy, but add to it more than 20,000 participants for Grandma’s Marathon weekend, and you will want to make sure you have nailed down your lodging plans. Grandma’s Marathon provides an extensive list of lodging each year on the website, including the most overlooked option: camping! Despite not growing up in a “camping family,” I envied family and friends who did, and hoped to make it part of my adult life (and my own family).
I will be honest: trying anything for the first time can feel really intimidating. Whether it is running, camping, a new recipe, or literally any other experience where there is a chance you could fail based on your predetermined expectations, it is human nature to worry about whether you can pull it off. Like all experiences, though, mistakes are part of learning, planning is part of preparedness, and it is better to look back to gather lessons learned than look back and wish you’d tried.
When I signed up for my first Grandma’s Marathon, I knew I wanted to camp it. I saw the list of options, looked at the price of lodging elsewhere, and figured you know what? I sleep like trash the night before a race anyway, so if all else fails, I will sleep about the same and break even on camping supplies that we can then reuse as a family. So what did my prep work and race weekend experience look like?
- Know your sleeping surface. If you are camping in an RV (owned or rented), your needs will be different from folks in a ground tent or rooftop tent (RTT); we fall into the latter category. A high-quality sleeping pad makes a huge difference in your quality of sleep both in comfort and temperature/insulation from the ground or outside world.
- Take your time researching and acquiring gear. You may be able to borrow from friends and family, or rent it, especially if you are unsure whether you will continue camping. If you can drive right up to your campsite, the type of tent you use and specifically its weight/portability will be less of a big deal compared to more remote spots. You may prefer being able to drive in for ease, or hike in for privacy. Everyone is different! A camp chair for mealtimes will make a big difference and they come in all sizes and weights, so be sure you have what you need to enjoy mealtimes. It isn’t a necessity, but is awfully nice to have.
- Have a plan for food. If you want to go out/order takeout for all of your meals and have shelf-stable snacks, you are pretty much set; if you want to do some cooking, practice utilizing your setup in advance of race weekend the same way you practice fueling on runs so it feels familiar and stress-free. We opt for visiting some favorite Duluth spots during Marathon weekend, cooking simple meals, at our campsite, and having snacks available like bananas, graham crackers with peanut butter, grapes, and plentiful drinking water. I am not personally a coffee drinker, but if you are, consider having an easily-transportable solution such as pre-made coffee to eliminate one more thing to do on race morning. In my last blog post regarding troubleshooting your fueling, I mentioned knowing the foods that work well for you in the day(s) leading up to longer runs and harder efforts. That plan applies here as well! If you know you are going to enjoy the Michelina’s All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner the night before your race, include these foods in some night-before meals. If you plan to start race morning with a grab and go breakfast plus a snack after the bus delivers you to the start line, practice with those things and be sure they are on your camping packing list. If you plan to cook food, please respect all local and state laws around fires and firewood – the DNR has strict and important rules around both fire safety and firewood sources to control the spread of invasive species. In doing so, you the North Shore stay beautiful for generations to come.
- Be ready for unpredictable weather. Just as seasoned Duluth residents and Grandma’s Marathon weekend participants will tell you to prepare for whatever weather the area has in store for race day, camping along the north shore means your gear must meet the needs of that same variety of weather conditions. From extra blankets to battery-powered or rechargeable fans, be sure you are able to sleep as comfortably as possible. For example, in 2025, the half and full marathon were delayed due to severe storms. We actually slept reasonably fine with a battery-powered white noise machine, and made sure we had quality sleep in the nights leading up to our trek to Duluth! When we returned to the area for the Lutsen 99er a week later, the skies were crystal clear. Seven weeks after that, we had plans for hiking Tettegouche and participating in the GRIND Mountain Bike Festival, and needed more layers in the evening hours.
- Pay attention to whether there are on-site showers available. If there aren’t, baby wipes, a jug of water to rinse off, or a chilly post-race celebratory dip in Lake Superior could be sufficient, or you may want actual running water and a “real shower.”
- Know your bus loading location relative to your campsite. As race day approaches, look for an email from Grandma’s Marathon to confirm your bus pickup location so the race organizers themselves can plan accordingly (number of busses at each site) and you can, too (how to get there and what time to leave your campsite). If the bussing situation has you feeling nervous, plan to be there a little early, but rest assured, Grandma’s Marathon has got this down to a science and you will be just fine!
- Practice makes perfect. The saying “nothing new on race day” applies to your lodging, particularly when you are camping before an important race. Give your camping setup a trial run, whether in your backyard, a local campground, Duluth itself on a different weekend, or (my favorite option!) at an upcoming trail race with nearby camping options. Last year, our trial run was the NCTRaces Bird Sanctuary trail race in Solon Springs, a great local race with 10k and 20k options, great people, great scenery, and great food. We practiced our set-up and tear-down, race-morning fuel plan, and made a few tweaks to our setup before Grandma’s Marathon weekend (namely, a better sleeping pad and rechargeable way to inflate/deflate it quickly so we could break camp faster). Swanson’s Motel Cabins and Campground in Solon Springs is on the list of lodging options for marathon weekend, so you could theoretically stay there for both your practice run and marathon weekend, and there are countless other camping options within dozens of miles of Duluth to choose from. The main thing is to be sure you have determined what works, what doesn’t, and thus feel confident going into race weekend. I’ll be honest – camping itself felt like a cool accomplishment, too!
The other bonus for camping? Getting experience for other races where you have this lodging option, whether those races are on foot or on wheels. Camping is one of my favorite ways to enjoy the world around us, and with the north shore being one of my favorite places in the world and Grandma’s being my favorite running weekend, it makes sense that together they make for a really special trip. The only “was this a terrible idea?” thought I briefly had was when I needed to get up and down the ladder to our rooftop tent after running 26.2, and it went just fine! In a ground tent, you would not have this concern. Camping, like running, is all about the adventures and lessons learned along the way. If you are curious about it, give it a shot! It may end up being one of your favorite parts of future races. Feel free to reach out if you have any camping/gear-specific questions.
Kelsey Uribe
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Favorite Grandma’s Marathon Memory: There is something extra special about your first Grandma’s, and my favorite memory is simply the overall feeling I had during the race (and even now, talking about it!). My primary race-day goal was to take it all in, rather than being so focused on pace that I only remembered my watch face. I had wanted to run Grandma’s for nearly 30 years after seeing my dad run the 20th anniversary of the race. He has often said “every runner has got to do Grandma’s,” and I agree. I spent so much of my race feeling gratitude: gratitude for being able to arrive at the start line surrounded by folks who each had their own journey to get there, gratitude and awe for what a special experience it was to follow my dad’s route, and gratitude for the unique way the north shore invites us to reflect on our interconnectedness. To hear the waves along the same shoreline, see the light filtering through the same trees, and feel encouraged by the cheers of many of the very same residents who cheered on my dad, just like they have done for decades of Grandma’s runners- oh, what a feeling indeed! That interconnectedness and gratitude made for an unforgettable day.
Three words to describe your training, racing, or life: Determined, grateful, optimistic
Favorite post-race beverage: Chocolate milk!
Reason you absolutely won’t run outside: I have three little kids at home, so at times, their needs mean I am on the treadmill at odd hours.