Over 18,000 racers flocked to Duluth for Grandma’s Marathon weekend 2025. Now that the final racers have crossed the finish line, the Grandma’s Marathon team is looking back at the weekend’s success.

“I think that every time you get to this side of a Grandma’s Marathon weekend, and it’s done and it’s successful, you feel that pride and it makes you want to do it again next weekend,” said Zach Schneider, Marketing and Public Relations Director for Grandma’s Marathon.

Schneider said the weekend’s events were successful due to the large community support behind the organization.

“I think really this is a this is an event that is owned and operated by the community. We couldn’t do it without the buy in from everybody, whether you are a participant, a volunteer, a sponsor, a vendor, a resident of Duluth,” said Schneider.

The weekend saw many changes, like the start time of the William A. Irvin 5K being moved from its traditional 6PM to 1PM. Despite the five-hour switch, Schneider says the race went smoothly.

“Early reports for the 5K time changes were great. Registration was at a record level. We sold it out in 36 hours back in October. Participation was at a record level. We had the biggest 5K we’ve ever had, beating the old record by over 300 runners,” said Schneider.

Other changes came without warning, with summer storms causing Saturday’s races to be delayed by a half an hour.

“One thing about Grandma’s Marathon and the volunteers and the community is that we’re adaptable. And everybody kind of rolled with the punches as that storm rolled to early Saturday morning. It’s something that we talk about all year as a possibility of what we’re going to do if weather like that happens as a staff and as an organization. But to see that plan go into action is always different, right? And everybody responded really well.” said Schneider.

Even with the changes, Schneider says the weekend turned out to be the largest Grandma’s Marathon weekend they have ever had.

“This is a reason to love Duluth and to love living here, being from here. And this is something that not a lot of communities I think around the country can do. It’s unique to us. It’s completely ours,” said Schneider.