Race info - Grandma's Marathon, Duluth, MN - Saturday, June 20, 2026 - 26.2 miles x2 - 11:19:42 (including the break between marathons) - Garmin link - Cool, humid, mix of clouds and sun - NOTE: The first marathon is unofficial and unadvertized. The second marathon is the actual Grandmas Marathon - a top 10 largest marathon in the US. Goals The goal was to finish and have fun. Get the medal for the 50th Grandma's Marathon. Training background I've been putting in lots of miles the last 4-5 years, over 2,000 miles per year. I had a great training cycle for a backyard ultra in April, took a short break after that race, and then trained for this double marathon. In my long runs leading up to the race I practiced a run-walk strategy to prepare for 50+ miles on roads. Four weeks before the race I did a 59 mile week, and three weeks before the race was a 50 mile week. Race day I slept on a cot in my tent in the parking ramp of the convention center where the expo is. I got about three hours of sleep, and woke up at 1am. Put on all my gear, packed up my sleeping stuff and tent into the car, ate a bagel with honey, and headed over to the finish line for a 2am meet up. I got there about 1:58am and there were about 8 other runners there. One double runner had printed up unofficial bibs for those of us running the double - I picked number 33 for no particular reason. Then a few more runners joined us and we were 14 people, we took a group pic at the finish line, and we started the first of two marathons at 206am. I anticipated a run-walk strategy, as we had about 5.5 hours to get to the start line. Instead, it was a slow and steady run about 11 minute pace. We ran together, sometimes would split into smaller groups, regroup, and separate again. The roads were “open” but very little traffic. We rarely used sidewalks in Duluth, and when we got out of town it was all highway running. About 8 miles in, a guy had set up an aid station for us, and we stopped there for about 7-8 minutes. We passed through the half marathon start line as the first buses of runners were arriving, and we got some cheers, some high fives, and some looks of “what is going on here?” After the half way point, we saw the sun rise over a foggy Lake Superior, and the course was starting to open up. We ran through aid stations preparing for the day, we thanked the volunteers in advance and said “see you in a few hours” and were able to fill our waters.

YEESSSHHH let's talk GEAR! Shoes, nutrition, or gadgets you've bought or would like to try? Maybe something that caught your eye? Let us know in the comments. I'll share my latest in the comments! ⬇️

Just this morning I sent out an email to a few of my athletes asking them to think about their TRAINING goals. Things they want to work on during the training block itself. Not focused on the race, just on the process. What training goals do YOU have? ⬇️

You know the drill! What's something you did this week you're proud of? 💪 Or... that didn't go to plan? 🙈 Let's hear your flex or fail! ⬇️

What's new in gear? Shoes, nutrition, or gadgets you've bought or would like to try? Maybe something that caught your eye? Let us know in the comments. I'll share my finds below! ⬇️