RunRace USA › Minnesota › Grandma's
The complete, course-first guide
Grandma's
Saturday, June 19, 2027 · Wave schedule — see logistics
Point to point on Scenic Route 61 near Two Harbors, Minnesota, running southwest along Lake Superior to a finish in Canal Park, Duluth, beside Grandma's Restaurant and the Aerial Lift Bridge
The race in 60 seconds
First run in 1977, Grandma's has had time to become part of the city's running calendar. The marathon is a true point-to-point: its finish sits about 23.8 miles from the start as the crow flies. The modeled line carries about 680 feet of total climb and ranges from roughly 605 to 738 feet above sea level. The elevation profile calls out Lemon Drop Hill so the defining work is visible before race morning. Look for Glensheen Mansion, Fitger's Brewery Complex, Essentia Health St. Mary's Medical Center (Vision Northland tower), Greysolon Plaza (former Hotel Duluth) in the flyover, with recognizable forms modeled from architectural records.
Fly the course
The whole course, built from the best available published route trace and an extruded model of Duluth. Scrub it, change the camera, or let it play. Nothing here is a video: it is drawing the city live.
Route statusCurrent community course trace cross-checked against the published route. Dec 2025 trace, Two Harbors to Canal Park, 42.33 km
The route line uses the best published course trace available. Public-domain USGS and USDA aerial photography plus USGS 3DEP elevation are baked into RunRace USA, so the flyover makes no paid map API or third-party runtime requests. Buildings, roads, parks and water use OpenStreetMap, ODbL. This is photographic terrain with modeled architecture, not photogrammetry. Bridge approaches, elevations and facade details are approximations; the organizer's published route remains the reference.
The elevation profile
This Marathon profile covers 26.2 miles, ranges from roughly 605 to 738 feet, and contains about 680 feet of modeled climb.
- Lemon Drop Hill, mile 21.78 to 22.49: 55 feet up, a short, sharp rise on London Road at 26th Avenue East, roughly 30-55 vertical feet, hitting at about mile 21.8-22.
- , mile 8.34 to 8.91: 39 feet up, 1.3% average.
- , mile 5.31 to 5.67: 36 feet up, 1.9% average.
The route at a glance
Gold is the selected modeled course; route provenance is stated beside the flyover.
Race-week weather, measured
At the start line, June 15-23 averaged a low of 54°F and a high of 69°F across 2016-2025. The same window reached 87°F at its warmest and 46°F at its coldest. Measurable rain appeared on about 32% of sampled days. Treat the range, not just the average, as the packing list.
Pace it by effort
The profile and grade strip come from the same route currently loaded in the flyover. Use even pace as a baseline, then protect effort on the highlighted climbs and exposed sections.
| Finish | Even pace | Halfway |
|---|---|---|
| 3:00 | 6:52 /mi | 1:30 |
| 3:30 | 8:01 /mi | 1:45 |
| 4:00 | 9:09 /mi | 2:00 |
| 4:30 | 10:18 /mi | 2:15 |
| 5:00 | 11:27 /mi | 2:30 |
| Published course limit, 7:00 | 16:01 /mi | 3:30 |
Build your race weekend
The course
Live 3D flyover, synchronized elevation, route map, mile-by-mile shape and local landmarks.
Where to stay
24 mapped places to stay, compared by the endpoint that matters.
Expo and logistics
Packet pickup, the published weekend schedule, transit, parking and current entry tiers.
Spectators
Route-aware viewing anchors and a plan that respects the actual course geography.
The weekend
A city guide built around the places modeled beside the course.
Official race site
The organizer's current dates, entry details and late course notices.
Common questions
Is there a lottery or a qualifying time?
Neither. Grandma's Marathon is straight first come, first served: registration opens October 1 at 7:00 p.m. Central for the following June's race, and there is no lottery, no time standard and no charity-only backdoor described on the race's own registration page. What replaces the lottery is speed at the keyboard. The race says the half marathon and the 5K both sold out inside 90 minutes in 2026 and the full marathon sold out in about 12 hours, so the full is the least frantic of the three but still not something to leave for November.
The homepage says registration opens October 1, 2027, but the race is in June 2027. Which is it?
This is a genuine contradiction on the race's own site. The homepage banner reads '2027 Registration Opens October 1 @ 7:00pm CT' while the marathon page describes the 2027 race as taking place June 19, 2027. The FAQ resolves it in general terms: registration opens each year on October 1 for the race the following June, with price increases on October 6, November 1 and April 1. Read the banner as the prior October, not October 2027, and confirm with the race before you plan around the date.
How much does the entry actually cost, and when does the price jump?
There are four windows and they are steep. $155 if you register October 1 through 5, $170 from October 6 through the end of October, $185 from November through March, and $200 from April 1 to the May 1 close. A virtual entry is $145. The gap between showing up on opening night and dawdling until spring is $45, which is more than most races charge in total late fees.
Can I get a refund or defer to next year if my training falls apart?
No on both counts. The race states plainly that entry fees are non-refundable and that deferrals are not permitted. The single carve-out is active military personnel deployed during race weekend. The race also reserves the right to cancel or alter the event for severe weather, pandemic or other hazard, treats that as an act of God, and does not refund in those circumstances either. If you want protection, buy it at registration, because the race is not going to provide it afterward.
Can I give my bib to a friend?
Yes, but only through Race Roster's official transfer system, only until May 1, and only for a $26.95 fee that the person receiving the entry pays. After May 1 the race says absolutely no transfers are allowed. The race also warns explicitly that scammers work this market and tells runners never to send money directly or through payment apps; it points people instead to the official Grandma's Marathon Bib Transfer Group on Facebook to find legitimate entries.
How are corrals assigned, and can I move up?
Corrals come from the goal finish time you submit at registration. Assignments are emailed in late May and printed on your bib. You can voluntarily start in a corral behind the one you were assigned, but you cannot move forward into a faster corral. Be aware that the race's own materials use two naming schemes for the same three groups, calling them Corral A, B and C in some places and Corral 1, 2 and 3 in others; treat A and 1 as the same first corral rather than assuming there are six.
How far apart do the corrals actually start?
Twenty-five minutes separate the first and last citizen corral: 7:45 a.m., 8:00 a.m. and 8:10 a.m., after wheelchair and adaptive athletes go at 7:35 and the elite field at 7:40. That matters for two reasons on a June morning by Lake Superior. The back corral runs 25 more minutes of accumulated sun and warming air than the front one, and any spectator meeting plan built on gun time will be off by up to half an hour if they assumed everyone starts together.
What is the time limit, and what happens if I am behind it?
Seven hours, which the race describes as roughly a 16:00 per mile pace. The race does not say it will pull you off the course; it says runners who exceed the limit will be asked to move to the sidewalk, meaning the road reopens to traffic around you and you continue as a pedestrian. Assume course support, timing and traffic control wind down at that point. The race does not specify whether the seven hours runs from the first corral's gun or from your own corral start, so if you are near the limit, ask the race directly rather than assuming you get seven hours from 8:10.
This is point to point. How do I get to the start line?
Only on the race's own transportation, and there is no second option. The race states there is no access and no parking near the marathon or half marathon start lines, and personal drop-offs are not allowed. Buses run from six primary locations including the DECC, UMD, Miller Hill Mall, Duluth East High School, Proctor Sports Center, UW-Superior and Two Harbors High School, and marathoners also have a limited train option. If you miss the last bus, you do not run. Build your entire race morning backward from the bus, not from the start gun.
What time do I need to be on a bus?
Marathon buses load from 5:30 a.m. to 6:15 a.m., staggered by corral, per the race's transportation page. The earlier 4:15 to 5:00 a.m. window that circulates online belongs to the half marathon, which starts earlier; do not set your alarm off the wrong one. Loading is first come within the window, buses run full and single runners are asked to share a double seat, so arriving at the very end of your window is how people end up standing at the curb watching the last bus pull out. Exact 2027 corral-by-corral windows are published with corral assignments in late May.
What kind of bag can I bring, and where does it go?
Only the official clear plastic bag handed out at packet pickup. The race states that unofficial gear bags, including backpacks, are not permitted, so a backpack you meant to check is a backpack you will be arguing about at 5:30 a.m. For marathoners the gear bag rides the bus with you and gets dropped near the start corral entrance, not inside the corral itself. It travels to the finish, where pickup sits just to the right of the finish chute, and you can collect it before heading to the runner recovery area. Half marathoners are on a different rule entirely: no gear bags on the half buses at all, bags must be dropped at the loading location before boarding.
Can I run with a hydration vest, headphones, a stroller or my dog?
A hydration vest is fine up to 8 liters of capacity, which covers essentially every running vest sold. Headphones are permitted, with the race asking that you stay alert to your surroundings and gently pushing runners to go unplugged for the course entertainment. Prohibited outright on the course: pets, bikes, strollers, inline skates and handcycles. Note that a hydration vest is allowed but a backpack as a gear bag is not, so do not assume one permission implies the other.
How do I get back to my car or hotel after finishing?
Free return shuttles run from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., leaving from the DECC and dropping runners at the original bus loading sites and at partnering hotels. Since the finish is in Canal Park and the race's hotel cluster sits right there, many runners simply walk. The shuttle window closing at 3:30 p.m. is worth noting if you are a back-of-pack runner using the seven-hour limit, because a late finish plus a long recovery can put you close to the end of the return service.
What is the course actually like, and where does it bite?
It is a net downhill point to point of about 130 feet along Lake Superior, which is why it has a reputation as a qualifier course, and there are water and aid stations at 15 points. The reputation hides where it hurts. The measured climbs are small in isolation, roughly 39 feet between miles 8.3 and 8.9, and about 55 feet between miles 21.8 and 22.5. That second one is Lemon Drop Hill, and it arrives at exactly the mile where a downhill-battered quad has nothing left. Runners do not lose this race on the hill's grade, they lose it because they spent the first 20 miles running free downhill splits.
Register for the 2027 Grandma's →on Race Roster
Course geometry provenance is stated beside the player; elevation profiles always use the same route loaded there. City geometry is OpenStreetMap, ODbL. Aerial imagery is from USGS and USDA; other images carry their own source credits. Weather figures use Open-Meteo reanalysis for June 15-23 across 2016-2025 at the start line. Schedule, prices and expo hours were checked in 2026-08-26 and are the fields most likely to move: confirm them on grandmasmarathon.com before you book anything. Spot an error? Tell us and we'll fix it fast.