Grandma’s Marathon to Place Focus on Minnesota Mile Duluth
St. Paul Race Eliminated from 2009 Schedule

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Posted Wednesday, 1 October, 2008

(Duluth, Minn.) Grandma’s Marathon, Duluth-Inc. has announced plans to create numerous enhancements for the 3rd annual Grandma’s Minnesota Mile Duluth on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. In order to make the enhancements a reality, the nonprofit organization will discontinue the Minnesota Mile St. Paul, which was held the past two summers at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.

“It simply makes much more sense logistically for our organization as a whole to focus its efforts on creating a single premier one-mile event as opposed to two good local events. Organizing races in our own backyard is what we do best and we are extremely excited to raise the bar for this Duluth event,” said Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma’s Marathon.

Keenan adds that part of the plan to bring the Minnesota Mile Duluth to the next level is to utilize some of the resources previously directed to the St. Paul event. “We believe we are on the verge of making the Minnesota Mile Duluth something very special. One-mile races are becoming more popular in the running world, and we envision an opportunity to make this a true national-caliber event.”

While exact details are still being finalized by the staff and board of directors, Keenan says that prize money and travel expenditure increases are two viable enhancement options on the list that will help attract a stronger elite field. The 2008 Minnesota Mile Duluth event run earlier this month featured a $5,700 prize purse in its elite division, and attracted runners from as far away as California, Colorado and North Carolina.

One unique aspect of the 2008 race was an opportunity for runners to receive a guaranteed entry to the 2009 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. Among all finishers, 250 were randomly selected to receive entries into next June’s half marathon. Keenan says he expects this opportunity to continue for future Minnesota Mile Duluth races.

Registration for the 3rd annual Minnesota Mile Duluth is expected to open in June 2009.

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