Getting Ready For Grandma's
31st Annual Grandma's Marathon - this weekend, Duluth, Minnesota!
Written Friday night, posted Sat. morning-
Our Daughter, Son-in-Law and Granddaughter came up late this evening for the weekend. She is trying to get Madelyn settled and asleep, and I’m to wait for her, she’ll be back downstairs to visit. It’s hard for us to visit with Maddy around, because we can’t get a word in edgewise! We’re missing our Grandson, he couldn’t come along as he had to work this weekend. He’s happier with his work these days. He gave up his McDonald’s job for a job at Country Kitchen.
So, while I wait, I will tell my out of town and out of state readers that Duluth has been very busy all week getting ready for our 31st Annual “Grandma’s Marathon”. (My in town readers already know this!) It is a really big deal here. It brings in a lot of people to our city and a lot of money for our economy. So, the businesses and the city do all they can to make sure that everything is well organized and set, and that our city looks good. Beautiful potted plants line the street, flower beds blooming, everything spruced up. Everyone that works for the city is busy, busy, busy. There is a large health expo on Friday afternoon and evening (today) and a big spaghetti feed tonight. Tomorrow night, lots of entertainment, music, bands etc.
Ours is the 12th largest marathon out of over 400 marathons held. We will have over 16,000 runners, coming from all 50 states, D. C. and 50 countries, for the full marathon, the 1/2 marathon, the 5 K. There will be 36 men and 5 women running in the age 70 + class! Runners range in age between 14 and 82!
Our marathon is a popular one. The runners run the 26.2 miles all along Lake Superior and our North Shore. It’s a beautiful site. It’s fun to watch the runners too. We have lots of spectators. A few years ago my brother in law came out from Pennsylvania and ran it. He did it in the time that he wanted, just under 3 hours. It was fun watching him at London Rd. and then running down to the finishing line and watching him there. It’s the only time that I ever went down to the canal and saw them come in. I have gone to London Road some years and watched. Our church has a water stand at mile post 15 every year. Each year I think I might volunteer to help, but never have done so. They head out there at 5 am and it’s a very long day.
So, while I wait, I will tell my out of town and out of state readers that Duluth has been very busy all week getting ready for our 31st Annual “Grandma’s Marathon”. (My in town readers already know this!) It is a really big deal here. It brings in a lot of people to our city and a lot of money for our economy. So, the businesses and the city do all they can to make sure that everything is well organized and set, and that our city looks good. Beautiful potted plants line the street, flower beds blooming, everything spruced up. Everyone that works for the city is busy, busy, busy. There is a large health expo on Friday afternoon and evening (today) and a big spaghetti feed tonight. Tomorrow night, lots of entertainment, music, bands etc.
Ours is the 12th largest marathon out of over 400 marathons held. We will have over 16,000 runners, coming from all 50 states, D. C. and 50 countries, for the full marathon, the 1/2 marathon, the 5 K. There will be 36 men and 5 women running in the age 70 + class! Runners range in age between 14 and 82!
Our marathon is a popular one. The runners run the 26.2 miles all along Lake Superior and our North Shore. It’s a beautiful site. It’s fun to watch the runners too. We have lots of spectators. A few years ago my brother in law came out from Pennsylvania and ran it. He did it in the time that he wanted, just under 3 hours. It was fun watching him at London Rd. and then running down to the finishing line and watching him there. It’s the only time that I ever went down to the canal and saw them come in. I have gone to London Road some years and watched. Our church has a water stand at mile post 15 every year. Each year I think I might volunteer to help, but never have done so. They head out there at 5 am and it’s a very long day.
This is the first year that we at the American Cancer Society will be involved. We have 5 “Charity Runners” that will be running for us, and raising funds for us. Some of our volunteers will be sharing the Maurice’s water post to cheer them on. Again, I thought about volunteering, but I didn’t, maybe next year.
I took a walk to Canal Park on my lunch period on Wednesday. This is where the runners come for the finish line of the race. The bleachers were up at the finish line. The tents were already up, and as I said the workers were busy getting things ready. The 5 K was this evening. I didn’t hear whether it got in, because as of 20 minutes before the start it was pouring rain. We’ve had a rainy evening. (I didn’t see the 10 pm news). This afternoon the Whippersnapper race was held for the children. Tomorrow morning there is also a ½ Marathon race. I had my camera with me on Wednesday, so here are some photos of the tents, etc. I have a photo of the lovely “Grandma” banners on all the street posts. The photos I posted here were all taken at Canal Park where the finish line is.
Jonathan Lund, whose photos I often post, runs Grandma’s every year. He wrote on his blog that since he can’t use earphones this year (they have banned them) he is taking his camera along, and will be posting photos later of the race. You may see some of his work on my site again. Although, Jon I don’t know how you’ll have time to take photos and run at the same time! So, until you see his lovely photos, you will have to make do with mine.
Dawn hasn’t come back downstairs, and I’ll just bet that she fell asleep! Her husband went out with our son. When they drove up from Hudson this evening they came via Wisconsin route, instead of I-35, because they knew the traffic on 35 would be a bear. They have never come up that way…they said it was a beautiful drive, it was really scenic and rolling hills. Sometime we will have to go that way. Dawn said she didn’t realize Wisconsin was such a beautiful state! I told her yes, it reminds me a lot of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania!
I took a walk to Canal Park on my lunch period on Wednesday. This is where the runners come for the finish line of the race. The bleachers were up at the finish line. The tents were already up, and as I said the workers were busy getting things ready. The 5 K was this evening. I didn’t hear whether it got in, because as of 20 minutes before the start it was pouring rain. We’ve had a rainy evening. (I didn’t see the 10 pm news). This afternoon the Whippersnapper race was held for the children. Tomorrow morning there is also a ½ Marathon race. I had my camera with me on Wednesday, so here are some photos of the tents, etc. I have a photo of the lovely “Grandma” banners on all the street posts. The photos I posted here were all taken at Canal Park where the finish line is.
Jonathan Lund, whose photos I often post, runs Grandma’s every year. He wrote on his blog that since he can’t use earphones this year (they have banned them) he is taking his camera along, and will be posting photos later of the race. You may see some of his work on my site again. Although, Jon I don’t know how you’ll have time to take photos and run at the same time! So, until you see his lovely photos, you will have to make do with mine.
Dawn hasn’t come back downstairs, and I’ll just bet that she fell asleep! Her husband went out with our son. When they drove up from Hudson this evening they came via Wisconsin route, instead of I-35, because they knew the traffic on 35 would be a bear. They have never come up that way…they said it was a beautiful drive, it was really scenic and rolling hills. Sometime we will have to go that way. Dawn said she didn’t realize Wisconsin was such a beautiful state! I told her yes, it reminds me a lot of the beautiful state of Pennsylvania!
PS - Sat. morning: What a beautiful morning for the runners. The air is fresh, 60 ish, probably cooler by the lake, which will be great temperature to run in. One of the reasons the runners love Grandma's! The 5-K run did get in last evening after the rain.
Post script on Monday morning: Reports from ACS water post and Hope UMC's water posts, they worked very hard, it was a fun time and very interesting watching the runners and a satisfying job of passing out the water. They were there from 5 - 5:30 am to noon! It was a hot morning. I heard that 28 runners ended up in the hospital, due to the heat, it was very hard to keep hydrated. Usually there is a nice breeze off the lake, but not this year, it was just HOT! One of our boys from Hope, 7 years old, passed out 399 cups (he counted). Our ACS water post kept busy, passing lots of water and cheering the runners. They heard many comments thanking us for being there. It was a rewarding job for all that volunteered!
Labels: Grandma's Marathon in Duluth
posted by Linda at 7:22 AM
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