Despite Dropouts, Wheelers Deliver Again in Duluth
(DULUTH, MINN.) — After US Paralympians Aaron Pike, Susannah Scaroni, and Jenna Fesemyer dropped out of this year’s Grandma’s Marathon wheelchair division due to forecasted rainy conditions, it might’ve been wondered who would deliver the fireworks.
Cue Luis Francisco Sanclemente and Ivonne Reyes Gomez.
Sanclemente, who was part of a four-man pack for much of the race, pushed himself clear in the race’s final miles and crossed the finish line with tears of joy streaming down his face.
The Colombian has reached the podium twice in five previous trips to Duluth, finishing third in both 2023 and 2019. This time, he wouldn’t be denied and finished with a time of 1:22:07 to earn his second win of 2024 – he had already won the Los Angeles Marathon in mid-March – and potentially a spot on his country’s Paralympic squad.
Reyes Gomez, meanwhile, becomes just the sixth woman to have multiple wheelchair titles at Grandma’s Marathon. Her time of 1:48:24 was a new personal best, beating the time she set in Duluth in 2019, and comes just months after she had finished runner-up earlier this year at the Los Angeles Marathon.
Even with several pre-race dropouts, 21 total wheelchair participants (17 men, 4 women) crossed the finish line on Saturday morning.
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. After seeing just 150 participants that year, the race weekend has now grown into one of the largest in the United States and welcomes 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. In addition to the 26.2-mile race, the organization has now added the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon and William A. Irvin 5K to its weekend offerings.
As the popularity of Grandma’s Marathon has grown, our mission has stayed the same – to organize, promote, and deliver annual events and programs that cultivate running, educational, social, and charitable opportunities to our communities.
Grandma’s Marathon-Duluth, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization with a nine-person, full-time staff and a 17-member Board of Directors.
