There will be a lot of repeat runners on the Grandma’s Marathon course. One of them, Tom Peterson of Two Harbors, is attempting his 30th finish.

He still has the T-shirt from his very first Grandma’s Marathon in 1980. Back then, the year wasn’t even included on the finisher shirt.

“It was surprising how festive it was … the few races I had done, other than maybe the state cross country meet, really didn’t have spectators like that,” Peterson said.

He got into running in high school through the Bagley, Minn., cross country team and “pretty much kept running ever since.”

He’s completed 45 marathons, 29 of which were Grandma’s. It helps that he lives near Two Harbors. But he’s also a member of a very rare group: lifetime members.

His wife bought him a lifetime membership in the late 1980s. Tom thinks it cost them around $100-115.

“It’s been a good investment,” he said.

That might be a little understated considering a single race entry costs more than that in 2025. Grandma’s Marathon sold 300 lifetime membership decades ago, and 208 are still in use.

“I kind of feel bad,” Peterson said. “I feel like I need to make some kind of donation.”

Thirty Grandma’s Marathon medals is a major milestone. After he hits that, he’s eyeing membership in another exclusive club: the 1,000-mile club.

“If you do 39 Grandma’s times 26.2, it puts you over 1,000 Grandma’s Marathon miles. And you get a belt buckle,” he said. “I’m not sure I need the belt buckle, but it seemed like a good goal.”

Only 21 people have earned that belt buckle.

His two fastest marathons ever have happened on the Two Harbors-to-Duluth course. He hasn’t improved on his 2:43:51 time in his fourth Grandma’s Marathon. He says that he “peaked” at age 24. But in 2024, Peterson finished second in his age group.

“It’s not just trying to run it. For some reason, I’m still trying to do my best, which obviously isn’t nearly as fast as it was years ago,” he said.

But maybe the peaks just look different now.