Temperatures in the low 50s and a tailwind made the 43rd annual running of the Grandma’s Marathon ideal for both athletes and spectators.
Boniface Kongin, a very likeable 29-year-old Kenyan crossed the half way point in 1:02:51, slightly ahead of 2:06 pace and was way ahead of the 2:09:06 course record set by his fellow country man Dominic Ondoro in 2014.
At 20 miles it still looked like the course record would fall, but as radio announcer Charlie Mahle commented when Boniface was running up Lemon Drop Hill at about the 23-mile mark, “If the wheels haven’t come off, he’s losing air in his tires,” as Boniface’s pace dramatically slowed. In the end, Boniface crossed the finish line in 2:11: 56, with a fresh, hard sprinting Andrew Colley, 28, of Blowing Rock, North Carolina just 17 seconds behind in 2:12:13. If the race had lasted another 200 yards the results might have been different.
Newcomer to marathon running Nell Rojas of Boulder, Colorado won the women’s division with a great time of 2:28:06.
All in all 73 U.S. runners qualified for the women’s or men’s Olympic Trials that will be held next February in Atlanta on a hilly course.
The average finishing time was 4:18:36.
Between the 5K, Garry Bjorklund half marathon and the Grandma’s marathon, 20,000 runners representing every state and 46 countries took part.
Local results for Grandma’s Marathon:
Scott Billard, 32, Grand Portage, finished in 3:23:13. Lynn Wiitala, 58, Tofte, finished in 4:40:55.
Jan Horak, 71, Tofte, finished in 6:49:54.
Garry Bjorklund half marathon
There were 7,492 finishers, 2,870 men and 4,622 women running the half marathon with Katy Jermann, 27, Burnsville, winning the women’s division in 1:10:27. The men’s winner was Paul Mkungo, Kenya, winning in 1:02:37. The average finish time was 2:14:33.
Paul Spry, 44, Grand Portage, finished in 1:46:54. His son, Trent Spry, 17, finished in 1:56:14 and wife and mom Jennifer Spry, 38, ran 2:03:24.
Jeanne Monson, 41, Grand Marais, ran 1:51:03. Sara Taylor, 46, Lutsen, finished in 1:52:47.
Jen Ross, 34, Grand Portage, crossed the line in 2:03:35. Bill Simonowicz, 60, Grand Marais, ran 2:04:29; Tina Hegg Raway, 36, Grand Marais, finished in 2:14:47; Reilly Wahlers, 17, Grand Marais ran 2:17:16; Bethany Hennen, 21, Grand Marais, finished in 2:37:56, and Kathy Bernier, 48, Grand Marais, crossed the line in 2:56:37.
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