The event is open to walkers as well as runners, and the half marathon race begins at 6:15 AM.

When you come to run in the half at the Grandma’s Marathon, expect a crowd - you’ll be running alongside more than 7,000 fellow half marathon participants (the half marathon race is limited to 7,500 participants) and about 9,000 runners in the full marathon. Twice champion of the Grandma’s Marathon (in 19) and an Olympic runner in the 1976 summer games, Bjorklund has been a longtime star and important player in spreading the popularity of running throughout Minnesota and the surrounding region. Garry Bjorklund, a Duluth native, was named the honoree for the event at its inception in 1990 to recognize his contributions to the world of long distance running. The course is made up entirely of paved surfaces and features a mixture of flat stretches and light hills, with the largest incline of the race at mile 9 (mile 22 for the full marathon participants). Now in its 47th year, and the 32nd for the event’s Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, this race offers the feel of a big-city running event in a smaller city, complete with thousands of spectators and fellow competitors and live music for entertainment along the course.įor the half-marathon course, like the full 26.2-mile marathon course, this point-to-point race follows a virtual straight shot starting at the 13.1-mile marker of the full and running along the same course all the way to the finish at Canal Park. The crystal blue waters of Lake Superior form the backdrop for your run along the entire race route of the Grandma’s Marathon, Half Marathon & 5K, which takes runners along the gently rolling hills of Old Highway 61 between the cities of Two Harbors and Duluth, Minnesota.

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