Above: Chris Skildum traded his running shorts for painting pants a couple of days after Grandma’s Marathon. Skildum finished the 26 mile 385 yard race in 4 hours 34 minutes and 33 seconds.
Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux, 32, was the first local runner across the finish line of the 39th running of Grandma’s Marathon with a time of 3:15:31. Chris Skildum, 30, of Grand Marais finished in 4:34:33.
For the 6’5,” 230-pound Skildum, this was his fastest marathon to date. The linebacker-sized athlete is a wildland firefighter who trains with weights and throws some runs in to get in shape. This year he said he was running well until 18 miles when his feet cramped up. “They were cold from the rain. The rest of my body warmed up but my feet never did. At 18 miles I had to slow down and just finish. Still, I’m happy with my time. It was a good day overall for me.”
Arrowsmith DeCoux was also well satisfied with his race, and is already looking for another long distance event to train for. The mayor of Grand Marais is a busy fellow, but not too busy to help coach the high school team’s long distance runners, something he said he looks forward to doing.
Fast frineds! Former Grand Marais resident Lori Yecoshenko (left) and Kathy Bernier finished the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon together in 2:44:13.
As for the elite runners, it was nearly a Kenyan sweep in the marathon and half marathon. Elisha Barno finished first in 2:10:36 while the women’s winner was a fellow Kenyan, Jane Kibilii, in 2:32:06.
Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon winners was Shane Biwott in 1:03:09. Colorado’s Neely Spence Gracey was the women’s winner in 1:11:27. Her father is Steve Spence, a 1992 U.S. Olympian in the marathon event.
Josh George was the men’s wheelchair winner at 1:30:12 while Tatyana McFadden was first across the line for women in 1:42:50.
Lynne Wiitala, 54, Tofte, led all local women in the Garry Bjorklund half marathon (13.1 miles) in 1: 53:29. Molly Wickwire, 31, of Lutsen wasn’t far behind with a time of 1:59:27. Jeanne Monson, 38, of Grand Marais finished in 2:02:09 with Jennifer Spry, 35, of Grand Portage, not far behind in 2:06:30. Rosy Bray, 23, from Lutsen crossed the line in 2:18:32. Kathy Bernier, 44, of Grand Marais finished in 2:42:13 with Teresa Hanson, 48, of Maple Hill hot on her heels in 2:43:38.
Right: Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux finished the marathon in 3:15:31.
Former Cook County News-Herald writer Jane Howard, 53, now living in Garrison, Minnesota, finished in 3:18:45.
Bill Simonowicz, 56, of Grand Marais ran 1:57:28 in the half marathon while Randy Wiitala, 57, Tofte, finished in 3:03:30.
Of the 6,077 marathon starters, 6,045 (97.5) completed the race. The finishing results were even better in the 25th running of the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon with 7,218 finishers out of 7,232 (99.8 percent) of the runners crossing the line.
The average time for the marathon was 4:12:10 while the average finishing time for the half marathon was 2:10:26.
A cloud burst at the start of the marathon made things interesting for awhile, but the rain faded fast and the day was drizzly, cool, and all but perfect for running a long distance race.
Next year the 40th anniversary running of Grandma’s will be June 18th, 2016. Time enough to get in shape and join the throngs of runners who call this one of America’s best road races with the best finish line in the Midwest.
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