Grandma’s Half | 2025

We hit the road to Duluth 7:30 a.m. on Friday. I had to swng by the office to do something quick, so was able to grab a Caribou from the office before picking up my coworker Cathy to hit the road. The drive north was full of catch-up chatter, and halfway to Duluth we made a mandatory pit stop in Hinkley for a Tobey’s cinnamon roll. Splitting that was such a delight.

Just before Duluth, we pulled off at the welcome center to stretch our legs, hit the restroom, and admire the north-shore overlook. From there we made our way to the race expo to pick up our packets. No rush, just leisurely wandering through vendor booths and soaking up the pre-race energy.

By lunchtime we were starving, so we wandered over to Canal Park Brewing. I ordered the Szechuan cauliflower even though I worried it might be too spicy – I was pleasantly surprised by how perfectly it hit the spot, but popped a Tums to be safe! After that, we strolled down to the lake, hopped across the rocks, and even joined a fellow beac person hunting for lake glass. We then headed back to the expo so Cathy could buy a new massage gun.

We caught the start of the 5K, cheered on the early finishers, and I even spotted my friend V. We chatted about running together in the morning before heading to the dorms for check-in. I managed a quick nap while Cathy set off to explore downtown Duluth.

Dinner that night was at Tavern on the Hill, which as become a tradition for me now, three years running. I ordered a pizza and we also split the mac and cheese, and, as always, the wait was surprisingly short. I saw some of my other running club friends at a table there, so said hi and wished them luck!

Saturday began with a 3:45 a.m. alarm. Storms were rolling through, so race officials delayed the start by 30 minutes. I tried to catch a few more minutes of sleep but mostly just lay there thinking about the day ahead. I grabbed a banana downstairs (though I wasn’t very hungry after last night’s dinner), then caught the bus to the start line.

I was assigned to Corral 3, but they had the corrals arranged side by side instead of one behind the other, which made things feel pretty cramped. I did hop into one of the porta-potties, which were reserved for my corral – but it was hard to maneuver through the super narrow corral to get anywhere, so I’m glad I went almost immediately when I got there. There was A LOT of waiting around before the horn went off at 6:50 a.m. The humidity was already thick, but I started with my Moms on the Run group, alternating four minutes running with one minute walking. After about three miles I realized that their pace was a bit too ambitious for my undertrained self, so I said farewell and popped my headphones in to listen to my audiobook and some music instead. I decided to do 0.4 mile run/0.1 mile walk for as long as I could hang on.

Knowing I was undertrained since Eugene, I decided to embrace plenty of walking on the back half to stay injury-free. When the clouds broke and the sun hit, it got scorchingly hot, but the support on the course was amazing. Around mile eight I ran into Brian from North Star Running, who joined me for half a mile, and then my friend Carrie caught up. She was doing 1.5-minute run intervals at a faster pace than I could hold, but it was wonderful to chat for a bit.

With about 3 miles to go, I ran alongside another Moms on the Run member, Sue, until the 2:45 pacer caught up. That gave me just enough motivation to surge ahead and finish strong, hitting the line just under 2:45. I felt proud for pacing myself smartly, respecting the heat, and saving my legs for the week ahead of prepping to move.

After grabbing my bag, I watched the men’s marathon finishers with Carrie, enjoying a celebratory beer. Then I walked across the canal to cheer with my friend Colleen and her crew. We helped one runner who collapsed from heat exhaustion – holding up a heat blanket for shade and keeping him cool and conscious until medical staff arrived almost a half hour later. It was a sobering reminder of how brutal the conditions were for everyone out there.

Once Cathy crossed the line, I met her and then hopped back in the finishers area so I could get her bag. I met her at the beach so she could go into the lake. I was baking hot and sun-fried so I headed back to the bus area to head to the dorm. The bus took FOREVER to get back to the dorms this year with all of the construction. I showered at the dorms and collapsed for a rest. Cathy stopped by to get her things and head home, so I got to say bye to her. Colleen picked me up at 4:45 for dinner. My head was pounding, so I took an Aleve and treated myself to a Diet Coke….no caffeine all day had definitely contributed to the headache. With food in my stomach and caffeine and medince in my system, I finally felt human again.

We ate at Sammy’s Pizza in West Duluth to dodge the crowds and split a few pizzas. Afterwards, we swung by Insomnia Cookies for a couple of cookies. I only managed half a cookie before bedtime and a few pages in my book before I realized I could barely keep my eyes open (despite the late caffeine!). I crashed hard and slept like a rock.

This morning I woke up around 5:30, read for a bit, then made my way to Caribou for a latte. It’s nearly 100 degrees back home in Minneapolis today, which I’m definitely not looking forward to after Duluth’s cool 60s this morning. We’ve got a birthday party for Hailey this afternoon and movers arriving Tuesday to start packing up the whole house…so lots of things do.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. I love this running community so much. Next up is the Twin Cities Ten Mile.. here’s hoping I can carve out some training time once this moving chaos settles down!