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Press Release - Grandma's Marathon - 6/13/24

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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