FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lindwurm Leads Field Full of Olympians, Former Champions
at 2024 Grandma's Marathon Weekend
(DULUTH, MINN.) --- Good luck deciding on a favorite this year in either
Grandma's Marathon or the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon – that's how strong
the fields appear ahead of the June 22 race day.
GARRY BJORKLUND HALF MARATHON
The weekend's biggest storyline may well be in the half marathon, as
Minnesotan and 2024 US Olympian Dakotah Lindwurm will be back to Duluth for
a tune-up race ahead of the Olympic Marathon this August in Paris.
Lindwurm will be racing against her Minnesota Distance Elite teammate Annie
Frisbie, who finished 10th at this year's US Olympic Marathon Trials, and
has said publicly her goal is to break the event record set just last year
by Maggie Montoya.
Another 2024 Olympian will highlight the men's field in the half marathon,
with Lesotho's Tebello Ramakongoana set to make his debut in Duluth. He ran
1:00:35 just last year, which set a new national record and would be a new
event record if he's able to duplicate that effort in this year's Garry
Bjorklund Half Marathon.
GRANDMA'S MARATHON
Former champions and countrymen Dominic Ondoro and Elisha Barno will
dominate the headlines in the Grandma's Marathon men's field, together
having accounted for seven wins in the past nine years at this race.
Barno won for a record fifth time in his career last year, which came just
one day after he was officially inducted into the Grandma's Marathon Hall
of Fame. Ondoro, meanwhile, still owns the event record of 2:09:06, a time
he ran in 2014 that broke the longstanding record of Minnesotan Dick
Beardsley.
The women's field may be the most wide open of all this year's events, with
two-time Belarus Olympian Volha Mazuronak seemingly the pre-race favorite.
She has top five finishes at both the Tokyo and Rio Olympics on her resume,
as well as a runner-up finish earlier this year at the Los Angeles
Marathon.
American Jane Bareikis and Kenyan Grace Kahura-Malang will be tough
competition for Mazuronak, with each having competed in Duluth previously
and having finished multiple top-10 finishes here.
GRANDMA'S MARATHON WHEELCHAIR
The men's and women's wheelchair division is best described as a
heavyweight bout this year, with former champions, Paralympians, and event
records holders on the start list.
Five-time Grandma's Marathon champion Aaron Pike will be back again this
year, having won each of the last five times he's been at the start line in
Duluth (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023). The six-time Paralympian has already
qualified for the Paris Games and will be aiming to break his own event
record from 2022.
He'll be challenged by another former champion Rafael Botello from Spain,
who won here in 2007 and has seven podium finishes since then.
Fourt-time champion Susannah Scaroni will also hope to extend a winning
streak in Duluth, having won each of the past three times she's been to
Grandma's Marathon (2018, 2019, 2022). A three-time Paralympian who has
also already qualified for the Paris Games, Scaroni will also be trying to
break her own event record from 2022.
Her primary challenge will come from teammate and defending champion Jenna
Fesemyer, who was a 2020 US Paralympian and will be hoping to qualify again
in several track events later this summer.
The 2024 Grandma's Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon are both
scheduled for Saturday, June 22. The start times for the two races are as
follows:
Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon
Adaptive – 5:50 a.m.
Elite & Citizens – 6:00 a.m.
Grandma's Marathon
Wheelchair & Adaptive – 7:35 a.m.
Men's Elite & Sub-Elite – 7:40 a.m.
Women's Elite & Sub-Elite – 7:45 a.m.
Citizens – 7:45 a.m.
ABOUT GRANDMA'S MARATHON
Grandma's Marathon began in 1977 when a group of local runners planned a
scenic road race from Two Harbors to Duluth, Minnesota. After seeing just
150 participants that year, the race weekend has now grown into one of the
largest in the United States and welcomes more than 20,000 participants for
its three-race event each June.
The race got its name from the Duluth-based group of famous Grandma's
Restaurants, the first major sponsor of the marathon. In addition to the
26.2-mile race, the organization has now added the Garry Bjorklund Half
Marathon and William A. Irvin 5K to its weekend offerings.
As the popularity of Grandma's Marathon has grown, our mission has stayed
the same – to organize, promote, and deliver annual events and programs
that cultivate running, educational, social, and charitable opportunities
to our communities.
Grandma's Marathon-Duluth, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit
organization with a nine-person, full-time staff and a 17-member Board of
Directors.
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