Skip to content
Sign In Subscribe
Grandma's Marathon — On the Road to Grandma's

Grandma's Marathon now 10th largest in the U.S.

,   and  Howie
1 min read

For the first time in the event’s history, Grandma’s Marathon has cracked the top 10 list of largest 26.2-mile road races in the United States. With 6,690 finishers in its 2023 race, Grandma’s Marathon moved up two spots from a year ago and now sits 10th among the nation’s largest marathons.

“It’s not only cause for celebration but also serves as a way to quantify, in a way, just how remarkable and important our community has been to help this event grow to be one of the biggest in the nation,” Marketing & Public Relations Director Zach Schneider said. “To see Duluth on this list alongside big metropolitan areas such as New York City, Chicago, and Boston should bring a smile to anyone who has ever had a hand, big or small, in Grandma’s Marathon.”

The 2023 Grandma’s Marathon was the 10th largest in the event’s 47-year history – there were eight straight years with 6,700+ finishers from 2001-08, and the largest-ever event came in 2016 with 7,518 finishers for the 40th annual race.

In total, more than 235,000 participants have crossed the finish in Duluth’s Canal Park since the start of Grandma’s Marathon in 1977. If the current pace continues, event organizers expect that total to reach the quarter million mark during the 50th annual event scheduled for June 2026.

LARGEST MARATHONS IN THE UNITED STATES (2023)

  1. New York City Marathon – 51,297
  2. Chicago Marathon – 48,574
  3. Boston Marathon – 26,600
  4. Los Angeles Marathon – 16,973
  5. Honolulu Marathon – 15,140
  6. Marine Corps Marathon – 13,662
  7. Walt Disney Marathon – 12,690
  8. Philadelphia Marathon – 11,412
  9. California International Marathon – 9,223
  10. Grandma’s Marathon – 6,690

Comments

Related

Grandma's Marathon

Howie: Grandma's Marathon to open museum exhibit at Depot

Howie's daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen Bar. The story of Grandma's Marathon has always lived in pieces scattered across the Northland — in shoeboxes filled with fading race bibs, newspaper clippings tucked into basements, volunteer jackets hanging in closets and family photo albums showing exhausted

Members Public
Michelina's All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner prep underway at the DECC
DECC. Submitted
DECC

Michelina's All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner prep underway at the DECC

It’s that magical time of year when the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center kitchen revs up to serve hungry marathon runners at the annual Michelina's All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner. The event, which began in an outdoor tent in 1977, now serves 8,000 in the Lake Superior Ballroom. The

Members Public
Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Board approves grants
Duluth

Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Board approves grants

The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council's mission is to create a healthy art and cultural ecosystem by offering support and resources for artistic professional development and equitable access for arts organizations and individuals to benefit all communities.

Members Public
Quote Me, Howie: Eric Thompson, Yvonne Prettner Solon
Thompson. Howie / HowieHanson.com
City of Duluth

Quote Me, Howie: Eric Thompson, Yvonne Prettner Solon

"If someone has a heart attack, they don’t care who shows up – whether they’re a doctor, a paramedic, or a firefighter – if they know what they’re doing. With us strategically spread out with eight stations across the city, we can get to your house quickly." -- Eric Thompson

Members Public

Latest

Howie: Bayfront still may be Duluth’s best idea
The Whipper Snapper races are held during Grandma's Marathon weekend every year. Howie / HowieHanson.com
Howie

Howie: Bayfront still may be Duluth’s best idea

Bayfront remains one of the few places where the city still functions the way a healthy city is supposed to function: as a shared public space where people continue gathering together because they genuinely want to be there. Every summer, Duluth remembers that again.

Members Public
Politics

Howie: While others talked revival, Gary Doty did the work

Survival, for many old industrial American cities during the late twentieth century, became the central challenge itself. Doty helped Duluth survive long enough to rediscover confidence in itself again. That is not a minor civic legacy.

Members Public
Howie: Minnesota’s political civil war weekend
Politics

Howie: Minnesota’s political civil war weekend

The emotional political truth in Minnesota: The DFL fears permanently losing working-class and regional voters. Republicans fear nominating candidates who thrill activists but collapse in the suburbs. Both fears are real.

Members Public