I would do this race again in a second. Very well organized race with a real small-town feel to it. The course (and Duluth) is beautiful. The lake takes your breath away. The crowd is hit or miss throughout the first 19 miles, but you don't need them. The scenery is enough to get you by. Tree-lined highway and sparse crowd are a wonderful combination b/c you never have to worry about finding a potty. Aid stations were great with plenty of water, ice, sponges, etc... (and, yes, please get rid of the Ultima!!). The rolling hills are nothing if your training runs contain some sort of incline. Lemon Drop Hill towards the end is somewhat challenging, but only because of its placement toward the end. Stayed at the UMD dorms and thought they were nice. I stayed there because they required a two night stay (which is fine), but didn't require me to stay the night after the race (I wanted to get home). Yes, it is basic, but it is also cheap. Bus tour before the race was very informative and the spaghetti dinner (on site of the expo) was very good and reasonably priced.

This was my third marathon. The course was beautiful. It runs along Lake Superior for a good 18 miles or so and then goes into town. There are fantastic fans all along the course. Since it is run on Scenic Hwy 61, I was concerned that spectators would have a difficult time reaching us. People who live in the cabins along the highway were out in full force cheering us on! I'm definitely a back-of-the-packer and never felt abandoned by the spectators once! There was more than adequate water, Ultima (yech!), ice, and sponges along the course. I was impressed that for someone finishing after the 5-hour mark supplies were still so plentiful! The volunteers were wonderful! The course was well-marked. There were adequate porta-potties at the start, at every mile marker, and a ton of them at the 1/2-way point (also the start for the 1/2 marathon).

We stayed in the UMD suites (two bedrooms, living room, bathroom, and full kitchen) and found the accommodations to be fantastic! The twin beds were comfortable, the shower/tub perfect, and plenty of space to visit with friends and family.

My only gripe for the entire weekend would be that the space for the expo is too congested for the number of participants and exhibitors.

Everyone must put this one on their 'must-do' list!

Grandma's Marathon was my fifth marathon and I had a very good experience. I have to warn people about the dorms, though. I stayed at the UMD dorms, and while the people were very nice and helpful and the shuttle service was great, the room was a little primitive. I am familiar with dorms, I went to college and lived in one, I'm just letting people know what to expect. There is a small bed with a very small, lumpy pillow and probably the thinnest blanket I have ever seen. This was fine before the marathon, but when I came limping back afterward and grabbed my little thin towel and went to take my shower, the water was only sporadically hot or even warm. I ended up leaving and driving back to Minneapolis right after running the marathon and staying in a hotel there. Just be warned.

As far as the race itself, it was very well run and I thought the course was beautiful. It is a little challenging to run almost 20 miles in a sraight line without much change in scenery, but the scenery was so beautiful, and the times you saw the lake were breathtaking, so it was fine.

My only complaint was that after around mile 17 (I think) there were no port-a-potties. At this point we were coming into the city so even a desperate run into the bushes was out of the question. I actually asked a guy who told me there would be one in ten blocks, then a few miles later I asked someone who told me they were never dropped off for that location. So this was a little problem.

The end of the race area was awesome with lots of helpful people and lots of food. I will definitely run this one again.

I have family in Two Harbors, & always wanted to try the marathon course. This was my first & it was just a great day. It was a rolling party. People encouraged me from start to finish! I was amazed how well run & organized this race is. Somone gave me a cold beer at mile 20! Thank you so much Duluth!

As everyone else said, this race was well organized. Duluth was beautiful, weather was perfect, and crowds were supportive. The most impressive thing was the city support. This is a city that loves their race. There are signs all over the city that are supporting the runners. We did not have reservations at a hotel. We just drove up and signed up. Yes, the price was 3 times normal, but it was a nice room, with bus support right to the start!! When we checked in they had a poster for the marathon and a race information booklet on the bed! I also need to put in a plug for the local YWCA. The YMCA was allowing runners to come in and shower. When we mistakenly pulled up in front of the YWCA, they did not hesitate to allow us to come in. It was truly appreciated! There was nothing negative at all about this race. Everyone should plan to do this race.

Grandma's was my second marathon, having completed the relatively giant Chicago Marathon last year. I heard Grandma's was scenic, well-organized and flat - so I needed little persuasion to sign up. The experience definitely lived up to my expectations. The highlight, in my opinion, is the organization of the race. Everything runs like clockwork, from the expo, to the U of M-Duluth dorm check-in (by the way, staying at the dorms was completely fine - not beautiful or luxurious, but totally fine), to the race itself, to the finish area (which was crowded, but lots of fun). It was a cold start, but couldn't have been a more beautiful day for the race.

I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more of the course directly along the lake - you have to kind of squint through trees to see it. But the course is nonetheless beautiful. Crowd support was, not surprisingly, not quite as strong as Chicago along the entire way, but the cheers get pretty constant by the time you get towards the finish. Plenty of bathrooms and water stations (more than Chicago, I thought)- though I really couldn't tolerate any of the Ultima. The Clif pacers were awesome and made my solo experience feel more like a team effort. My family, serving as loyal spectators, had an easy time finding their way around the course and loved Duluth. T-shirts were lovely, medals fine. Overall, I had a great time and would recommend Grandma's to anybody looking for nice, smallish race.

The course was excellent, flat with a couple of rollers. The weather was ideal, but the race officials were VERY RUDE. Bus transport to the start was running late, and I got on the wrong bus. As I was trying to get to the marathon start, race officials at the 1/2 marathon kept pulling my number and making uncalled for comments. Sent an email to race officials the day after the race and still haven't received anything back.

This being my fourth marathon in 8 months and still considering myself a beginner in the grand process called marathoning, Grandma's is 'One Of The Best' around the USA. Everything about the event was superb and done in the most professional manner. The crowds keep you going when the going gets rough! I had another PR, cutting 9 more minutes off of my time for a chip time of 4:13:50. The only comment I have is, it looks like there were just over 6 thousand people in the marathon and registration was closed in 12 days. Where does the 9 thousand count come from, were there that many no-shows? Again the best organized event around, I completed Vegas in January and it does not compare to this one! Thanks for the event!

Duluth has this race down pat. The shuttle system worked out great. I never had to wait more than 5 minutes to catch a shuttle. The water stops were awesome. Plenty of chances to get water or Ultima or both. The course is gently rolling hills, nothing that difficult, but I was hoping for more flat streches. This year there was a headwind that slowed most people down, but nothing you can do about that. The fans were few in the beginning, but plentiful the last couple of miles when you really need them. The finishing area was set up perfect. Plenty of food, plenty of people to help you, I was able to retrieve my drop bag right away. My only complaint was that the dorm room cost over $160.00 for 2 nights. I felt that was a little expensive for what you got.

I would like to say thank you to all the volunteers for this race. The organization is second to none and the people in the community were very pleasant and helpful all weekend. We really enjoyed the Duluth experience. I was however a little disappointed in the course. I thought that the first half of the race was harder than advertised because it seemed like it was uphill most of the way. The hills are gentle and rolling but combine that with the constant headwind and I was worn out by the halfway point.

I was very happy with the all the water stops and the length of the water stops really helped prevent any problems getting water. I really do not like Ultima and would prefer Gatorade. Another disappointment was the finishing medals. We had 3 people in our party that ran the half marathon and only got patches - what is up with that? They deserve similar treatment as the marathoners. I thought that the marathon medals were nothing special, they are kind of plain. I have seen much better (Cincinnati) and some worse. Still my expectations were high and I was disappointed.

Finally getting a hotel room is next to impossible. We made our reservations in what we thought would be plenty of time (Jan) and found that the closest we could get was Hayward Wisc. This forced us to be on the road for the marathon by 3:00 am. I think that is another reason why we ran out of gas. I love the area and will consider running the marathon again.

Over all I would say that the weekend was a great experience but the race it self was somewhat disappointing.