Grandma's Marathon: Pacing & Race-Day Strategy
A fast, scenic point-to-point along Lake Superior with a gentle net descent.
Last updated
- Where:
- Duluth, Minnesota
- When:
- Saturday, June 19, 2027
- Course:
- Gentle net downhill · point-to-point
- Best run as:
- Even pace
Course & elevation
Grandma’s runs the North Shore of Lake Superior into Duluth, with a gentle net downhill and few real climbs until a short rise near mile 22 (Lemon Drop Hill). It’s a fast, straightforward course where the main variable is June weather.
- Start → Finish
- 725 → 607 ft
- Net
- −118 ft
- Total gain
- ≈ 557 ft
The certified route
Point to point down the North Shore of Lake Superior, Two Harbors to Duluth.
- Start
- Scenic Drive (Old Highway 61), 134 ft 11 in south of a storage shed by an auto dealership.
- Finish
- Canal Park Dr, in front of Little Angels Cantina and Grill.
Underfoot
Road throughout: Scenic Dr, North Shore Dr, Congdon Blvd, London Rd, Superior St, Canal Park Dr.
Through, in order
Two Harbors · Lakeside · Duluth
What you pass
- Four river crossings mark the race out: Knife River near mile 5, Sucker River near mile 10, Talmadge River near mile 13, Lester River near mile 19
- Lemon Drop Hill at roughly mile 22 — the race’s signature climb, and it is marked on the certificate
- The final mile drops off Superior St, passes under the N Shore Scenic Railroad and turns into Canal Park
Transcribed from the USATF certificate for Grandma's Marathon (MN25002DT), measured 10 May 2025. Where the certificate is silent, so are we.
Key moments
- Mile 1–20Gently descending lakeshore, smooth and fast; settle into rhythm.
- Mile 22Lemon Drop Hill, the one short climb that bites this late.
- Mile 23–26.2Into downtown Duluth for the finish.
Pacing strategy
An even effort works well on the gentle descent. The course is so smooth it’s easy to drift fast early, so hold back and keep something for Lemon Drop.
Pacing by goal time
Checkpoint splits for four common goals at Grandma's Marathon. These are effort-even rather than pace-even: the paces shift with the course profile, so climbs are slower and descents faster by the amount the grade actually costs. For any other goal time, use the planner below.
| Checkpoint | Sub-3:00 | Sub-3:30 | Sub-4:00 | Sub-4:30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mile 3.1 | 20:296:50/mi | 23:547:58/mi | 27:199:06/mi | 30:4310:14/mi |
| Mile 6.2 | 41:006:51/mi | 47:507:59/mi | 54:409:08/mi | 1:01:3010:16/mi |
| Mile 9.3 | 1:01:336:52/mi | 1:11:488:00/mi | 1:22:049:09/mi | 1:32:1910:17/mi |
| Mile 12.4 | 1:22:086:52/mi | 1:35:498:00/mi | 1:49:319:09/mi | 2:03:1210:18/mi |
| Mile 15.5 | 1:42:436:52/mi | 1:59:508:00/mi | 2:16:579:09/mi | 2:34:0510:18/mi |
| Mile 18.6 | 2:03:206:53/mi | 2:23:548:02/mi | 2:44:279:10/mi | 3:05:0010:19/mi |
| Mile 21.7 | 2:24:067:01/mi | 2:48:078:11/mi | 3:12:099:21/mi | 3:36:1010:31/mi |
| Mile 24.9 | 2:44:476:48/mi | 3:12:147:55/mi | 3:39:429:03/mi | 4:07:1010:11/mi |
| Finish | 2:58:306:52/mi | 3:28:158:01/mi | 3:58:009:10/mi | 4:27:4510:18/mi |
Splits assume even effort and are adjusted for this course's climbs and descents, which cost more than they give back. A model, not a promise: wind and heat move real splits around. See how the pacing model works.
Plan your mile splits
Turn your goal time into a mile-by-mile plan for Grandma's Marathon, built from this course's elevation. The even pace approach comes pre-selected, and grade-adjusted pacing evens out your effort across the climbs and descents.
Plan Grandma's Marathon splitsFueling & hydration
Aid stations roughly every 2 miles with water and sports drink. Warm, humid years raise fluid needs, so drink to thirst and keep gels on schedule.
Weather
Mid-June on Lake Superior is a coin flip: cool and perfect, or warm and humid. Heat is the biggest risk to your goal time.
Race-day logistics
- Getting to the start
- Point to point from Two Harbors. Shuttle boarding runs 5:30 to 6:15 a.m. from Duluth — there is no parking at the start worth chasing.
- Race weekend brings around 19,000 participants across its events into a city of 85,000, so book accommodation far earlier than you would elsewhere.
Checked against Grandma's Marathon's published information in July 2026. Caps, start times and cutoffs move year to year — confirm with the organiser before you build a plan around them.
What race morning has actually been like
The last 5 editions of Grandma's Marathon, measured at the start line rather than averaged across the month. Starts have run 52–61°F, averaging 56°F.
| Year | Date | Start | Dew pt | Wind | By late morning |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Jun 19 | 60°F | 55°F | 7 mph | 61°F |
| 2022 | Jun 18 | 53°F | 48°F | 9 mph | 58°F |
| 2023 | Jun 17 | 56°F | 58°F | 2 mph | 65°F |
| 2024 | Jun 15 | 52°F | 51°F | 6 mph | 58°F |
| 2025 | Jun 21 | 61°F | 71°F | 4 mph | 78°F |
The gap between the gun and late morning matters here. In 2025 it went from 61°F at the start to 78°F by late morning. A four-hour finisher ran a materially different race from a three-hour one.
Dew point has reached 71°F (2025). Above about 60°F, sweat stops evaporating efficiently and most runners lose pace no matter what the thermometer says. It is the number to watch here, not the air temperature.
Dates derived from the race's published pattern (3rd Saturday in June), observations at Two Harbors, MN (start). Source: Open-Meteo historical reanalysis (ERA5), 7-11am local at the start line. Reanalysis is modelled from station observations, so treat it as a close record rather than an official one. See how race-morning weather is built.
Is Grandma's Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Yes. The course drops 118 ft net, comfortably inside the 1,500 ft threshold where Boston's downhill adjustment begins, so a time here is submitted as run.
Compare every course, how the downhill bands work, or work out your own target.
Course certification
Grandma's Marathon is measured and certified by USA Track & Field. A certified course is a requirement for Boston qualifying, so this is the code that makes a time here count.
- Certification code
- MN25002DT
- Effective
- June 13, 2025
- Expires
- December 31, 2035
- Configuration
- point-to-point
- Certified net drop
- 0.85 m/km(118 ft over the course)
- Start/finish separation
- 92.01%
Elevations, drop, and separation above are transcribed from the certificate itself. A GPS watch may disagree: it measures the route you ran, while the certificate measures the route that was certified. See how course certification is researched.
Dial in your pacing & fueling
New to how training builds toward a race like this? Start with Anatomy of a Running Plan, find your zones with the pace calculator, and plan race-day nutrition with the fueling calculator.
Related marathon guides
Train for Grandma's Marathon
Build a free, personalized marathon plan that progresses you safely to race day, with paces tuned to your goal.
Create your free plan