Grandma's Marathon

She's been doing phenomenal.

She won Grandma's Marathon three times.

Nathan Martin, who just won LA's Marathon, he'll be with us.

Jarrett Ward, who's an Olympian as well.

2 billion t-shirts.

And I was a volunteer at Grandma's Marathon for several years.

So I have a t-shirt for every year as a volunteer.

I call them clothing memories.

Uh, in the spring of 2025, I ran a personal best at the half marathon of 1:29:20 on a relatively flat course on a cool morning with a temperature of about 62 degrees.

This was in my build-up for Grandma's Marathon last year, where I got up to about 60 miles per week, but unfortunately had a disappointing race day, where it was hot temperatures, and I got eaten alive at around mile 20 and finished in a disappointing 3:37.

And instead of doing the smart thing of resting and recovering-

[laughs]

Nice.

Ultimately trying for a sub-3 and a Boston qualifying time.

Um, I decided to skip a fall marathon, focusing on the 10K and the half marathon through the fall and winter, and then, uh, ultimately try maybe another, uh, BQ attempt or at least a PR attempt at the Grandma, at Grandma's Marathon in the late spring.

So I'd love to hear your advice on what other kind of shoe I should get.

Dakota placed 12th at the 2024 Paris Olympics and was the top American finisher in the women's marathon.

She's also a two-time champion at Grandma's Marathon right here in Duluth, and one of the most grounded, down-to-earth athletes I have come across.

You can hear more about Dakota in episode number 47.

Chelsea Sodero, you may remember from a previous episode on Endurance Eats.

I don't know whether you had a bike or what, but that was incredible.

I had a guy with me that just ran, like, 2:20 in, like, really warm conditions at Grandma's Marathon, and his wife was biking with us.

So, uh, yeah, it worked out great, and we were on a 1.5, like, little short of 3K loop, totally flat, uh, no interruptions, so just locked in for a long time.

Um, so I'm, that's, like, my strong suit for sure.

One race.

It happened to be Grandma's Marathon.

I decided, like, I cranked on some long runs with it.

I thought, you know, I had a feeling I'd be alone for a lot of it because I ran in the elite wave, right? I was like the slowest guy in the pro field, basically.

I had a brand deal with BPN.

They had a crew that was gonna go out and run Grandma's Marathon in May of the following year.

My contract was only through December of 2024, so they were gonna run Grandma's Marathon in 2025.

But I had the potential to maybe like they could renew my contract at the end.

So I was like, I don't know, like maybe I'll do it.

I was like, yeah, I think I'm going to sign up.

I'll send the, I was like, yeah, I'll do it, whatever.

At that point, like I didn't know what I was going to be doing at the, because Grandma's Marathon was in June of, it was actually in June, June 22nd of 2025.

Some have been really surprised.

One of the main places that we really work with the direct consumer is at Grandma's Marathon up in Duluth, Minnesota.

And we've been there for quite a few years now.

And the people that keep coming back year after year and just talk about, well, I learned how to cook it from you.