Champions Return for the 2021 Grandma’s Marathon
Zach Schneider
Kongin, Kiptoo, and Myers Could Join Prestigious Group of Repeat Winners at Duluth Race
(DULUTH, MINN.) – Three former champions are expected on the starting line for the 2021 Grandma’s Marathon. They will have the chance to join rare company if they can add another victory to their running resume. Defending men’s champion Boniface Kongin is slated to return after outdueling the field in 2019. He ran 2:11:56 to beat out four-time champion Elisha Barno and event record holder Dominic Ondoro. Kongin ran much of that 2019 race in record pace, but was slowed in the final 10K as he dealt with severe cramping. Not only will the Kenya native try to become the first back-to-back men’s winner at Grandma’s Marathon since Barno won the first two of his four titles in 2015-16, but also he would be just the seventh man to win multiple Grandma’s Marathons titles.
Boniface Kongin about to break the tape at the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon in 2:11:56. He returns in 2021 among other champions! Click on image to enlarge. Photo courtesy of Duluth News Tribune, Clint Austin photographer.
Sarah Kiptoo, expected to return this year, will try to join Mary Akor (2007-09) and Lorraine Moller (1979-81) as the only three-time women’s winners of Grandma’s Marathon. The Kenya native won titles in 2013 and 2016, finishing third in 2014 and 2015. She finished 10th the last time out in 2019 with a time of 2:38:46. Kiptoo’s 2013 winning time of 2:26:32, then an event record, held until 2018 when Kellyn Taylor ran a 2:24:28.
2014 champion Pasca Myers, also expected to compete in the women’s elite field, will try to become just the eighth woman to win at least two Grandma’s Marathon titles. She also ran here in 2019, finishing in eighth place with a time of 2:36:13.
With a reduced field for the 2021 Grandma’s Marathon, about 29 men and 29 women will race in the elite field on Saturday, June. 19. The 45th annual Grandma’s Marathon, scheduled to start at 7:45 a.m., can be followed live on our radio and TV partners, The Northland FAN 106.5 FM and WDIO-TV.
For more information, please call our office at (218) 727-0947 or visit grandmasmarathon.com. For any interview requests, please contact Marketing & Public Relations Director Zach Schneider at (218) 343-9874 or [email protected].
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ABOUT GRANDMA’S MARATHON: Grandma’s Marathon began in 1977 when a group of local runners planned a scenic road race from Two Harbors to Duluth, Minnesota. With just 150 participants that year, organizers knew they had discovered something special. Grandma’s Marathon weekend draws approximately 20,000 participants for its three-race event each June. The race got its name from the Duluth-based group of famous Grandma’s Restaurants, the first major sponsor of the Marathon. Over time, the level of sponsorship with the restaurants changed, but the name stayed the same. Grandma’s Marathon-Duluth, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization with a 17-member Board of Directors and a nine-person, full-time staff.
