June 20, 2026 - Duluth, Half Marathon

 

 Title: June 20, 2026 - Duluth, Half Marathon

Hike Info : Description :  Extra Photo's :

Hike Info:

Type:Touring

 

Description:

Misc runners about two miles from finish

Today is the big day! Particularly for Rachel as she will be running in the Gary Bjorklund Half Marathon which is part of Duluth’s Grandma’s Marathon run. Sherri and I will play the part of mamarazzi and paparazzi, even though it will be in a diminished role. With the expected 20,000 runners, spectators are discouraged from trying to find places along the route and are encouraged to cheer close to the finish.

I woke up to some light just before 4am and heard the door close. I realized it was Rachel going to the shuttle taking her to the starting line 13 miles away from Duluth. I fell back asleep, waking up at 5:50 and did my daily search for lightning-none to report. Sherri got up shortly after I finished and we went down for the hotel breakfast.

Having experienced the traffic conditions yesterday, I have a concern about being able to find parking downtown. Last night we decided to take an Uber. I thought I had an Uber lined up, but a message said they could not find any drivers for my request. Plan B is to see about getting on the bus. We left at 7:40 and made our way down to one of the two bus stops in the area-we chose the right one. Several other people were there as well. The bus picked us up-the fare came to $0.75 each. Much cheaper than Uber. Actually the bus left us off close to the 12 mile mark.

Rachel having crossed the finish line

Sherri and I made our way down the course, occasionally cheering people on. The Grandma’s Marathon has an app where we can watch Rachel’s progress. She is doing real well, maybe not personal best, but I suspect better than she was expecting. We stationed ourselves around the 12.5 mark of the run. It turns out that Governor Tim Waltz also ran the half marathon. I suspect that we have seen him without knowing who he was.

Rachel sees us before we see her and does a leap. She is looking pretty energetic for going as far as she has. I got a couple of pictures of her as proof. She keeps on going. The course loops around a waterway. This gives me a chance to cross a bridge and head towards the finish line.

There is no way I can be at the finish line. But there is a fence with a screen just after the finish line. I am tall enough that I can peek over it and place my phone on top of the fence and take some pictures in the blind. One of them I got a good shot of Rachel just after she finished. She still looks good.

I found the gate where the runner left the area. Rachel is taking a well deserved rest and getting some nourishment, along with getting her clothes bag. She comes out a little before 10 and we enjoy a brief moment of basking in her achievement. We then go and find Sherri who is waiting close to where we saw Rachel during the run.

 

 

Rachel and Sherri going to the Aquarium

 Last November, Sherri and I met Alice while we were hiking around Giant Forest. She worked at the Great Lakes Aquarium  in Duluth. Since that time, we have had the Aquarium on our list of things to do. Rachel is up to seeing the Aquarium so that is what we do. When compared to something like San Francisco’s Steinhart Aquarium, much less the one in Monterey, it is pretty small. But considering that Duluth had 86,000 people, this is a pretty impressive place.

 

 

 

 

Sherri swallowed by a huge fish

The Great Lakes Aquarium is centered on the area’s ecological structure. The emphasis is on the land around the area and the fresh water which affects the land. The fish and animals are representative of this. Also there is a fair representation of the birds and other aquatic life as well. I did enjoy aspects of it such as the turtles of the area, seeing what a sturgeon looked like and how their trout differed from ours. And yes they did have salt water exhibits as well, including sea horses and dragons-they are different, some sort of ray, and of course, a giant Pacific octopus. When we were in Georgia last year, I made a comment to Sherri that we have come 3,000 miles to the Georgia Aquarium to see a giant Pacific octopus. I added to that statement this year it is crows as there was an exhibit about corvids.

Salmon

When we left the Aquarium, we hunted for where the run’s shuttle bus was. Found it! We took it back-the driver even stopped close to our hotel. On the bus we were hearing a conversation between Tim and Farid-who is from Saudi Arabia and here for the World Cup games. Farid got off with us-I think by mistable. We talked for a while. Rachel determined which hotel he was staying at and drove him there.

 

 

At the hotel, we had left overs from last night for lunch, then just rested and slept. Rachel put us on a wait list at OMC Smokehouse in the Lincoln Park section of Duluth whose motto seems to be Oink, Moo Cluck!. By the time we got close to being ready for us, it was 5:30. There is a pretty good crowd there. When we got served the food was a bit slow in coming-but with good reason-it was good. We had two meat plates: one beef brisket and the other pulled pork. There were four sides which came with that: mac&cheese, cheesy jalapeno grits, bacon/blue cheese potato salad and collard greens. This was about right for us all.

Now what could be better? We had spotted across the street Love Creamery. That is what could be better and there was a line out the door. We joined that line. While I cannot say the ice cream was the best in the world, the flavoring on it was really good. We all had the Monster Cookie flavor. Sherri, being really ambitious, also had a scoop of S’mores. We are content.

By 8, we were back in our room. Tomorrow we are doing an overnight trip up to Grand Maras to explore Lake Superior’s North Shore area. We get packed for an overnight journey. Rachel tries to coordinate what we will be doing tomorrow. If Gooseberry Falls is not crowded, we will go there and then up to Grand Portage. Otherwise we can see other things. By 9:30, Rachel is asleep-it has been a long day for her. Sherri and I doze off after 10:30.

Extra Photo's

Sea Dragons

Sea Horses

Rachel and Friend looking at the sea horses