Hall of Famer, First-Timer Race to Rainy Finish in Duluth
(DULUTH, MINN.) — Elisha Barno and Volha “Olga” Mazuronak are certainly on different ends of the experience level when it comes to Grandma’s Marathon – one entered as the winningest runner in the event’s history, and one was making a first-time appearance in Duluth.
On Saturday morning, though, the two could be referred to with the same word – champion.
Barno continued his dominance in Duluth, leading from wire-to-wire and finishing with a time of 2:10:55 and securing his record-setting sixth career Grandma’s Marathon victory.
“I’m very happy and proud of myself,” said Barno, who was inducted into the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame last year just one day before what was then a record-setting fifth win in Duluth. “I want to come back and try to win again.”
While Barno may know the Grandma’s Marathon racecourse better than anyone, it was Mazuronak on the women’s side who made headlines despite this being her first time in Duluth – she finished in 2:23:52 to break the record of Kellyn Taylor from 2018.
“I feel happy,” she said after her win, talking with reporters using the occasional assistance of Google Translate. A two-time Olympian for Belarus, she now lives in the United States and says her friend encouraged her to try Grandma’s Marathon. “She said you can come here and run fast, and I guess that’s true.”
Zoey Viavattine, meanwhile, set a new event record in the non-binary division, finishing in 2:44:43 and breaking the record set just last year by Steven Bugarin.
This was the second-largest Grandma’s Marathon – the event itself – in its 48-year history, with 7,359 total finishers (4,323 men, 3,012 women, and 20 non-binary). The only larger marathon was in 2016, when there were 7,518 finishers in Duluth.
Including each of the weekend’s three races – Grandma’s Marathon, the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, and the William A. Irvin 5K – the 2024 race weekend was the largest in the organization’s history, with 17,401 total finishers across the three events.
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.
