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☰
Grandma's Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Grandma's Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 4.5 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.4
Number of comments: 298 [displaying comments 151 to 161]
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A. W. from State College
(8/28/2007)
"Very Good" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Gently rolling hills throughout the course with Lake Superior visible much of the way. It was pretty hot for a marathon PR in 2007. Shirts are great, but a tech shirt would be that much better. Plus the cotton shirt shrunk on me... a lot! Overall I would give this 2 big thumbs up. The area is beautiful. The spectators were loud and encouraging, but there were areas where spectators were non-existent. | |
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r. s. from Kansas City, Missouri
(7/20/2007)
"A beautiful marathon, but hot this year" (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 I'm glad I ran Grandma's. The course is beautiful, the organization is great, and the spectators were unfailingly supportive. However, this year was horribly hot. I've run hot races before (I'm from the Kansas City area) but was not expecting it or prepared for it here. The night before was cool and rainy and the high heat was not predicted! The only suggestion I would make to the organizers is to start serving sports drink at mile 2. I've run five previous marathons, from small (200) to enormous (40,000), and they've all started the sports drink at mile 1 or 2. It would be better for runners, especially since the last two years have been so hot. If you run Grandma's, keep in mind that it is a beautiful winding, rolling, course and you do not have fans every minute; however, I like that. Somehow I missed the black flag warning, which the Duluth newspaper said was issued an hour after the start. Thus I started out too fast and struggled later. But I take responsibility for that. | |
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Brooke Lembke from Minneapolis, Minnesota
(7/17/2007)
"I have run this marathon 3 times and love it." (about: 2007)
4-5 previous marathons
| 3 Grandma's Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I am a Minnesota girl through and through. I believe you have to be from here to truly enjoy the beauty that Grandma's Marathon provides to the runners. It is so well put together and despite the lack of city to view during the run, there are spectators along the way to help cheer the runners onto the Duluth area. I will admit the "No iPod" rule made it much tougher to run this race this year. I found myself having to count treetops to keep myself occupied off the pain the race delivered to my body due to the intense heat this year. Recommendation: Start earlier! The past few years it has constantly gotten hotter at the start of the race. People were dropping like flies with the heat. The black flag was out at the start of the race and many runners tend to avoid or miss this notion that it's an extreme caution to runners and to take it a bit easier out there. Overall, Grandma's is a great marathon from the large expo, to the race, to the amazing entertainment big-tops to celebrate the weekend. You couldn't really ask for much more. | |
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L. Z. from Naperville, IL USA
(7/5/2007)
"As good as it gets!" (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Grandma's Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 9th consecutive Grandma's. Of all those races, only the 2007 and 2006 races have been warm. The others were all in the 40s or 50s at the start, and 50s or 60s at the finish. So let's hope things get back to normal for next year. What impressed me most about this year's race was how well prepared they were to deal with the heat. Ice and ice sponges were available much earlier in the race than usual, and I was given a plastic bag full of ice cubes as soon as I entered the finish area (this may have saved me from becoming a medical casualty). As hard as I may try, I cannot think of a single negative thing to say about Grandma's! | |
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L. F. from Terre Haute, IN
(7/1/2007)
"Great experience; thank you, Duluth" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first marathon and I am very glad I chose Grandma's. I found the Ultima to work great for me: I prehydrated with it, and I used it with 6 shots of GU throughout the race. My strategy at water stops was: hit the GU before the station, dump the water on head, back and arms, stuff race bra with ice, drink the Ultima. I think those who didn't like the Ultima may not have also liked Gatorade in these conditions. I know I would have been puking if I'd had as much Gatorade as Ultima. My main marathon probablem was sunburn - my fault. Next day I still took Ultimate because feeling sick from sunburn. I am a slower runner so I was on course for a long time. They did run out of ice at a few stations. But people were very friendly and helpful and one boy ran back to get me ice when I asked him if he had any. | |
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T. B. from Chicago, IL
(6/26/2007)
"Just say no to Ultima..." (about: 2007)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 1 FANS: 4 The course has some views of the the lake and is relatively flat. However, Ultima does not work like Gatorade, and in the kind of heat we were in, I think it is risky to serve Ultima instead of Gatorade. I ran Sunburst in June 2006; it was also hot at that race but they brought out the red flags and made sure all runners took water or sports drink at the aid stations. Also, they passed out cool wet towels at the finish line. I sure did not need the thermal blacket that Grandma's passed out since it was so hot. | |
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George Roffe from Houston, TX, USA
(6/25/2007)
"This city loves its marathon!" (about: 2007)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 While this was only my 4th marathon, I've also done 4 half marathons and attended a number of other marathons as a spectator. This was absolutely the best organized, best supported marathon I've run or seen. I swear the entire city volunteers in some capacity. Everywhere I turned there were volunteers who were also very knowledgeable. The hospitality was second to none. The post-race hospitality was incredible. The course was good, but not as flat and fast as it was made out to be to me - especially with the hot weather. Very rolling with lots of long grades to wear you down. Even in the "boonies" you encountered packs of very enthusiastic fans, even if they were not plentiful. Once you hit mile 19 they made you feel like an elite runner. Great folks. They get a 4 due to quantity. The quality is off the chart. The Ultima? Yeah, it's bad. Not so bad when cold. When warm it was bloody awful. While the organizers can't do anything about the weather, they could start earlier. I train in the heat and humidity of Houston and this race damn near killed me. Thank God for the great town folk who put out sprinklers. Not a cheap marathon, but book early, stay at the dorms, and soak up the hospitality. It's second to none. | |
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A. K. from Scottsbluff, NE
(6/24/2007)
"Great Race!" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I chose Grandma's in 2007 because I am a teacher and have time to travel in the summer. This was the third marathon that I did in the frame of one month, and beings the #2 took more out of me than expected, I was in "survival" mode at Grandma's. When I arrived in Duluth, I was shocked by how excited the town was about the marathon! This was incredibly uplifting and made me really excited about the race. As far as the race itself, I could tell that it wasn't really a PR-type of day when I was standing at the start and was hot already! The race began at 7:30 a.m., and given the fact that it's a summer race, it probably should have started at 6. However, this is my only qualm with Grandma's. Runners considering Grandma's really do need to plan for the heat. I drank more water than usual at the water stops and dumped water on myself at every aid station in an attempt to keep cool. When you get into the latter half of the race, a bunch of people set out sprinklers to run through, which also helped quite a bit. The people in the marathon were less chatty and outgoing as a result of the heat, but I tried not to let it get me down. I ended up only 8 minutes off my PR and had the most fun I have ever had in a marathon. This was an expensive race between gas money (it was a 15-hour drive for me) and the hotel prices, but it was worth every penny. I will be running Grandma's again next year. | |
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n. b. from kansas
(6/23/2007)
"well organized; just too expensive" (about: 2007)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I thought that the city of Duluth and surrounding communities did a great job of supporting this marathon. Very well organized. Very supportive. The course is a little more up and down than I was ready for. No real difficult inclines or declines, but never flat. My biggest concern is the price. The hotel price is pure robbery. I spent $600 for a 2-bedroom that was adequate at best. The city needs to address this because there are too many other races that are just as good or better and much cheaper. I will not return. | |
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R. R. from Minnesota
(6/21/2007)
"Great first marathon!!" (about: 2007)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Grandma's Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my very first marathon. After having my dad run a few and hearing good things about it, I knew Grandma's would be a good choice. The positives: ~Smooth packet pick-up, spagetti dinner was well run and pretty good. The volunteers everywhere were AWESOME. Although the first part of the marathon was pretty quiet for spectators, they made up for it at the end. Even for someone running at the back of the pack, the spectators were still out cheering. Loved the plentiful water and ice at the stops. Finish line was well run with a lot of helpful people due to the heat. Negatives: ~It was hot, but that's something that might happen in a June marathon. The Ultima... it's been said before, so I won't even go there. All in all, it was a great experience that I'd recommend to anyone. I'll definitely be back for another. |
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