As we ring in the new year, plans are well underway for our 36th annual running of Grandma's Marathon on Saturday, June 16, 2012. We are also busy planning for the 2012 and 2013 USA Men's and Women's Half Marathon Championships, which will take place in conjunction with the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon! We are excited to host these wonderful races and look forward to bringing America's best distance runners to Duluth!

In September, we wrapped up our 2011 racing season with the Minnesota Mile. It was a gorgeous fall day and we had a total of 599 participants, with 518 in the run and 81 in our St. Luke's Walk a Mile for Breast Cancer division. Congratulations to our winners, Craig Miller of Madison, Wis., and Brenda Martinez of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

I'm also happy to report that we had a very successful 25th annual Young Athletes Foundation Live & Silent Auction on October 26, raising nearly $20,000 for youth athletics in our five-county region! The Young Athletes Foundation, established in 1990 by Grandma's Marathon to assist with the promotion, development and growth of youth athletics, has contributed over $500,000 since its inception to nonprofit youth athletic organizations and programs in Carlton, Cook, Lake, St. Louis and Douglas Counties. It was a great evening, thank you to all of our contributors and participants!

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2012!

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Scott Keenan

Executive Director

Grandma's Marathon 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be missed. 
Don Fennessy - 1936 - 2011 

Grandma's Marathon and the Young Athletes Foundation (YAF) recently lost a dear friend with the passing of Don Fennessy. Don's work was instrumental in the creation of the Young Athletes Foundation in 1990, and he was an original member of both the Grandma's Marathon board of directors and the YAF committee. He was an extremely loyal volunteer of Grandma's Marathon - contributing to the success of many aspects of race weekend, including race traffic control, organization of the aid stations and the Michelina's All-You-Can-Eat Spaghetti Dinner, to name a few. He was inducted into the Grandma's Marathon Hall of Fame in 2004. We extend our thoughts and prayers to Don's family and friends during this difficult time.  







 
Charter is pleased to be a major sponsor of this marquee community event for our fourth year. Supporting Grandma's Marathon and the community of Duluth remains a top priority at Charter. Our locally based employees enjoy participating in the weekend's events by staffing a water station at Lemon Drop Hill, as well as supporting several Charter employees participating in the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon and Grandma's Marathon.  
 
Grandma's Marathon is just one event Charter supports within the Twin Ports community. Charter is dedicated to providing superior service while remaining committed to our local community by supporting organizations like Making Strides for Breast Cancer, Second Harvest, Junior Achievement and youth athletic organizations in partnership with the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Wild. As part of each community it serves, Charter also invests in strengthening those communities with financial and human resources. 
 
Charter prides itself on providing quality, convenience and compelling value through its bundle of Charter TV, Charter Internet and Charter Phone. We strive to make our customers' lives less complicated and more fun. 



We will be hosting the 2nd annual Grandma's Marathon Corporate Team Challenge during the 36th annual Grandma's Marathon Weekend in 2012! We encourage corporations to promote a healthy lifestyle by rounding up employees to get fit and come on out to run Grandma's Marathon or the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, while showing company pride.

Any corporation, profit or non-profit, can create teams to compete in Grandma's Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon! Team members must be individually registered. Each team must have a minimum of three members (and as many additional participants as desired), with one female and one runner 35 or older. The fee is just $25 per team, per race.

Awards will be granted to the winning teams of the following categories: Timed Competition, 50 and Older Competition, Corporation Size Competition and Participation Competition.

For more information and to register your corporate team, visit http://grandmasmarathon.com/site/index.php?page=corporate-team-challenge.



 By Mat Gilderman

Imagine it: You show up for the final day of your favorite class. You take your final exam - and pass. But before you're able to
see your final score, you're greeted by thousands of cheering
fans, throngs of photographers - and a medal is placed around your neck.

Sound like your kind of class?


maurices has been one of the mainstay businesses in Duluth for more than 80 years, but its impact on the fashion industry and on the community goes way beyond this northern Minnesota town.

What started in 1931 as a small women's fashion shop in downtown Duluth, has grown into an operation consisting of 800 specialty stores located in 44 states. maurices, which today employs over 6,500 people and is owned by ascena retail group, inc., continues to inspire young women to find their style, with affordable fashions in sizes 1-24. Whether it's jeans or jewelry, maurices offers everything a girl needs to fill her closet with the latest trends. maurices' commitment to offering the highest quality merchandise mirrors their mission to be good corporate citizens by giving back to community organizations throughout the nation.

2012 Grandma's Marathon Registration Update
 
Win 2012 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon Entries!!!
 
Hey, what can we say...we're in the gift-giving mood!
 
Everyone who has registered for the 2012 Grandma's Marathon (26.2 miles) prior to Monday, January 16 will be entered into a drawing for two (2) complimentary 2012 half-marathon entries to pass along to friends or family members. Talk about a fantastic post-holiday gift!
 
The current entry fee is just $85, but that will increase on
February 1. So why not save $$$ by getting registered now and become eligible for the half marathon entries as well!
 
Visit www.GrandmasMarathon.com to register. The race is set for Saturday, June 16th at 7:45 a.m. The 26.2-mile race is limited to the first 10,000 participants. Sign up soon - more than 2,500 are already registered!
 
2012 Grandma's Marathon Entry Fee Structure
$85 - Thru January 31
$90 - February 1 to March 31
$100 - April 1 to May 31
 

2012 Grandma's Marathon
Weekend Races Registration Schedule

 
Grandma's Marathon (Limited to first 10,000 entrants)
Registration Now Open
 
Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (6,300 entrants selected via lottery)
Lottery registration open from Feb. 13 - 24, 2012
 
William A. Irvin 5K (Limited to first 1,900 entrants)
Registration opens Thursday, March 15, 2012




The regional partnership that powers the Northland and beyond is a company filled with health conscious workers.

At Minnesota Power they go the extra mile to promote health and safety among the more than 1,200 employees in a myriad of ways. Dozens of people from Minnesota Power run Grandma's races and volunteer at the related events. Yet there are dozens more who live and model a healthy lifestyle based on the company's commitment to the health and safety of its employees.


Pro Print, the official printer for Grandma's Marathon is expanding once again. With their recent addition of a Ricoh C901 Production Press for variable data and short run work, Pro Print now has four digital presses in their digital printing department. Now, Pro Print has just announced the acquisition of a 40-inch Komori, six color, perfecting press. This is the newest, largest, most automated, sheet-fed litho press in the area.

Pro Print's success has always been due first and foremost to their employees - great people who are "pros" at what they do. Additionally, in order to maintain their high quality and continued efficiency, Pro Print has always invested in new, technologically advanced equipment, along with a larger and more spacious facility that allows production to be completed more efficiently.



 

 Grandma's Marathon is proud to have UnitedHealthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, as a major sponsor. Both entities strive to provide opportunities for people to lead a healthy life. According to Tim Mattson, site director for UnitedHealthcare in Duluth, this is why partnering with Grandma's Marathon is a natural fit. "When you add the similarities in our missions and the positive effects both of our organizations have on encouraging good health, it is natural for us to align our community giving efforts with Grandma's Marathon."

Social responsibility is one of the main components of UnitedHealthcare's mission statement. According to their Annual Report, "At UnitedHealth Group there is an important synergy between our business interests and our commitment to social responsibility."

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