Grandma's Marathon

Grant and Anna at Grandma's Marathon - Duluth, MN

Anna and I ran Grandma’s Marathon on Saturday. It was Anna’s first marathon and she did great! It was a beautiful day on the North Shore in Minnesota with barely a cloud in the sky. While the temperature was relatively warm, the breeze off the cold waters of Lake Superior kept it feeling pretty cool. We lined up at the start in Two Harbors together and were overwhelmed with many emotions. We’ve been to dozens of races together over the years but this was our first time together at a starting line since Anna is usually on the sidelines spectating. Anna trained extremely hard for this day over the last several months and actually making it to the starting line can be very emotional. In addition, we were experiencing our last weekend as the family of two we’ve known for the last eight years.

We ran together for the first half mile before it was time for each of us to settle into our own rhythm. I finished the run and hurried to get the camera from my bag so I could get some pictures of Anna at the finish. Right on schedule, she crossed the finish line in 4:01:40 for an average pace of 9:14/mile. I was able to greet her in the finish area and hold her while she sobbed with joy and relief. Had she not answered the call of nature at mile 13, she thinks she could have broken 4 hours! Now she’s dreaming of “next time” and beating the 4 hour mark. I’m extremely proud of her and I know she has taken great satisfaction in meeting the goal she set for herself.

We spent all day today with last minute preparations by packing our bags and making another Target run. There’s still plenty left to do in the next two days before we leave Wednesday morning but I think we should be ready. We’ll post again before we leave. Next week at this time, we’ll be with Tesfa!

Thanks for reading,
Grant