Fourth of Six Inductees Planned for Class of 2022
(DULUTH, MINN.) — Glenn Evavold has been inducted into the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame, the fourth of six individuals set to be enshrined as the Class of 2022 after making longstanding and meaningful contributions to the race and community.
Evavold, who passed away in May 2019, was a longtime Board of Directors member and twice served as chairperson of that group for Grandma’s Marathon. He and his wife, Peg, were part of the elite athlete hospitality team on race weekend, organizing their water bottles at each of the 15 water stations along the racecourse.
“The thing I remember most about Glenn was that he was always smiling,” Executive Director Shane Bauer said. “He had such a great attitude toward the organization and was a wonderful ambassador of the event. I can’t picture him without wearing something with Grandma’s Marathon on it and without a smile. That’s just who he was.”
Evavold was officially inducted into the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame during a virtual ceremony with his son-in-law, Robert Olds, and granddaughter, Allison Rinehart, attending. He joins Rick Recker, Jim Greenfield, and Dick Skogg as the announced members of the six-person Class of 2022.
“Some of my earliest memories with him include cheering him on as he ran Grandma’s Marathon,” Rinehart said. “He was always wearing his Grandma’s gear and was always eager to talk to people about the race and recruit them to run it one day.”
“He got our whole family into Grandma’s Marathon, really,” Olds added. “Most everyone in the family has been a multiple-time participant, and I don’t think that would’ve happened without the early years of going up there to be part of his support team.
The remaining members of the Class of 2022, which will be the largest since the Hall of Fame’s inaugural year in 1996, will be named and inducted virtually throughout the buildup to Grandma’s Marathon weekend, set for June 16-18. After all six members are officially inducted, the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame will be made up of 85 individuals, organizations, and municipalities.
A video of Evavold’s official induction ceremony can be viewed at the link below.
Glenn Evavold HOF Ceremony — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSel5CTDQwE
ABOUT GRANDMA’S MARATHON
Grandma’s Marathon began in 1977 when a group of local runners planned a scenic road race from Two Harbors to Duluth, Minnesota. There were just 150 participants that year, but organizers knew they had discovered something special. Grandma’s Marathon weekend draws more than 20,000 participants for its three-race event each June.
The race got its name from the Duluth-based group of famous Grandma’s Restaurants, the first major sponsor of the marathon. Over time, the level of sponsorship with the restaurants changed, but the name stayed the same. Grandma’s Marathon-Duluth, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization with a 17-member Board of Directors and a nine-person, full-time staff.
