(DULUTH, MINN.) — Good luck deciding on a favorite this year in either Grandma’s Marathon or the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon – that’s how strong the fields appear ahead of the June 22 race day.
GARRY BJORKLUND HALF MARATHON
The weekend’s biggest storyline may well be in the half marathon, as Minnesotan and 2024 US Olympian Dakotah Lindwurm will be back to Duluth for a tune-up race ahead of the Olympic Marathon this August in Paris.
Lindwurm will be racing against her Minnesota Distance Elite teammate Annie Frisbie, who finished 10th at this year’s US Olympic Marathon Trials, and has said publicly her goal is to break the event record set just last year by Maggie Montoya.
Another 2024 Olympian will highlight the men’s field in the half marathon, with Lesotho’s Tebello Ramakongoana set to make his debut in Duluth. He ran 1:00:35 just last year, which set a new national record and would be a new event record if he’s able to duplicate that effort in this year’s Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.
GRANDMA’S MARATHON
Former champions and countrymen Dominic Ondoro and Elisha Barno will dominate the headlines in the Grandma’s Marathon men’s field, together having accounted for seven wins in the past nine years at this race.
Barno won for a record fifth time in his career last year, which came just one day after he was officially inducted into the Grandma’s Marathon Hall of Fame. Ondoro, meanwhile, still owns the event record of 2:09:06, a time he ran in 2014 that broke the longstanding record of Minnesotan Dick Beardsley.
The women’s field may be the most wide open of all this year’s events, with two-time Belarus Olympian Volha Mazuronak seemingly the pre-race favorite. She has top five finishes at both the Tokyo and Rio Olympics on her resume, as well as a runner-up finish earlier this year at the Los Angeles Marathon.
American Jane Bareikis and Kenyan Grace Kahura-Malang will be tough competition for Mazuronak, with each having competed in Duluth previously and having finished multiple top-10 finishes here.
GRANDMA’S MARATHON WHEELCHAIR
The men’s and women’s wheelchair division is best described as a heavyweight bout this year, with former champions, Paralympians, and event records holders on the start list.
Five-time Grandma’s Marathon champion Aaron Pike will be back again this year, having won each of the last five times he’s been at the start line in Duluth (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023). The six-time Paralympian has already qualified for the Paris Games and will be aiming to break his own event record from 2022.
He’ll be challenged by another former champion Rafael Botello from Spain, who won here in 2007 and has seven podium finishes since then.
Four-time champion Susannah Scaroni will also hope to extend a winning streak in Duluth, having won each of the past three times she’s been to Grandma’s Marathon (2018, 2019, 2022). A three-time Paralympian who has also already qualified for the Paris Games, Scaroni will also be trying to break her own event record from 2022.
Her primary challenge will come from teammate and defending champion Jenna Fesemyer, who was a 2020 US Paralympian and will be hoping to qualify again in several track events later this summer.
The 2024 Grandma’s Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon are both scheduled for Saturday, June 22. The start times for the two races are as follows:
Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon
Adaptive – 5:50 a.m.
Elite & Citizens – 6:00 a.m.
Grandma’s Marathon
Wheelchair & Adaptive – 7:35 a.m.
Men’s Elite & Sub-Elite – 7:40 a.m.
Women’s Elite & Sub-Elite – 7:45 a.m.
Citizens – 7:45 a.m.
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.
