Race recap: Grandma’s Marathon 2026-06-20 (TLDR)
Mission Accomplished!!! I fought so hard for it, but I nailed my goal by managing a hard push at the end, recovering after I had dropped down in pace for several miles in the heat. I fell early on, at mile 3.61, but thankfully caught myself with my hands and wasn’t trampled. My hands were a little hurt from it, but it’s just scrapes and a fingernail that lifted a bit and was bleeding some. I didn’t lose time from the fall. I quickly popped back up running and reclaimed my pace. I noticed in the shower after the race that my knees got a little bruised and one had a scrape, but it wasn’t too bad. I’m extremely thankful that it wasn’t. It took me a little while to get the fall out of my head when I was running, but my gratitude for how quickly I recovered my spot in the pack sustained me. Underneath my fingernail is the only thing really hurting right now. Index finger, right hand. Oh well.
As it warmed up it got significantly more difficult to stay on target. I was grabbing ice and running out of hydration quickly. Around mile 17, I didn’t think I’d hit my goal, but thankfully I didn’t give up. I did some quick math towards the end and realized it might still be possible, so with a throwdown in the final few miles which took everything I had, I hit my goal time, even beating it a little. I now have a 7:48 buffer for Boston and I feel good about that and am proud of the effort I put in. I’m very grateful!!! It was well worth the fight. 
Although it was sunny and hot, it was not as bad as last year, and it was also less humid. We had cloud cover sometimes and a nice breeze periodically. When I finished it was yellow flag conditions. It eventually moved to red flag as it continued to heat up.
I am so glad I brought my swimsuit. Getting in Lake Superior after the race felt amazing. The water is freezing cold and it was super helpful. I should have reapplied sunscreen before; I forgot to do that, and I got a little unwelcome sun on my shoulders from the reflective water.
I went to a meetup for the 50 sub 4 marathon club at a local brewery afterwards. It was nice seeing people and celebrating our race finishes.
My drive back to MSP was routed differently, via Highway 23 this time, which I really enjoyed. The landscape was lovely. I crossed a cool bridge, saw a few deer and several wild turkeys, and noticed a bunch of different types of birds. It was a nice wrap-up to a satisfying trip.
I didn’t bring the GoPro because I have a video of this race already, from last year, and I knew I needed to be all business in this race. Thankfully I didn’t have it, actually, considering the fall.
Oh! I forgot to mention something cool. After finishing, someone recognized me from my YouTube race videos. She thanked me profusely and said that my videos helped her a lot. We took a photo together and followed each other on Instagram. That’s the third time that has happened to me. It makes me feel very good and it’s really encouraging. I need to get caught up, as I’m quite a few races behind on editing. I will get to work on it soon.
I made another friend as well, at the dorm. We rode the bus to the race together and talked and saw each other also at the start line. She lives in Chicago and was there running with her team. We also connected on Instagram. I really love the people I meet through running. It makes my life feel so fulfilled. People are truly treasures. Connections are what life is all about. We are in this together.
I saw one of the Atlanta Track Club In-Training participants after the race. There were several of us there, but I didn’t manage to catch up with the others.
Finish time: 3:42:12 (8:29 pace) Marathon number 58, Grandma’s Marathon number 2.
I had flown into Minneapolis on Thursday evening before the race. I went to the Mall of America when I got there and was truly impressed with it. I will go back there and spend a little longer the next time. There are malls, and then there is the Mall of America. It lives up to the name and is seriously impressive. There is an entire amusement park inside, with plenty of legitimately cool adult rides. I didn’t have time and also didn’t want to spend $52 for a wristband, but honestly it would be worth it. I wish I did have time because I would’ve ridden them all. It looks so fun. There is even a water flume ride, inside the mall. It’s a beautiful mall and has multiple food courts, some really cool Asian stores that I wanted to go into, and four levels. I didn’t get to see it all in the couple hours I spent there. I want to go back when I have some shopping money and enough time to ride all the rides!!!
That’s a wrap! Good times.
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