The 2021 running of Grandma's Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon are in the books, returning after a virtual-only event in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the field was smaller and elements of the race were slightly different for pandemic safety purposes, participants and spectators enjoyed a largely 'back to normal' event for the first year back after no event last year.

One of the big headlines is Minnesotan Dakotah Lindwurm winning the women's division of Grandma's Marathon. This is the first time since the 1980s that a Minnesotan has won this race. It was also a very good race for her for another reason too. More on that below.

Also down below, we have an extensive photo gallery from the finish line and places along the course, including images of winners and many of the other participants of the day's events.

This year's field was smaller than a normal year, which regularly sees over 18,000 total participants in the three events of the weekend. Saturday's two events saw a total of just over 6,000 finishers, with those numbers broken down as follows:

Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

  • 3,305 finishers (1275 men, 2030 women)

Grandma’s Marathon

  • 2,762 finishers (1514 men, 1248 women)

Grandma’s Marathon Wheelchair

  • 15 finishers (14 men, 1 woman)

Winning the various divisions of each of Saturday's events are the people below:

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Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon

The half marathon did not have an elite field this year, and had a rolling start that relied on chip times to determine a winner. Going in, this meant that the first person across the finish line might not necessarily be the winner of the event. Despite that possibility, the first person across the finish line in both the men's and women's division was the winner.

Men's division winner: Mohammed Hrezi (Libya)

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Top finishers:

  1. Mohammed Hrezi (Libya) – 1:04:14
  2. David Fitzmaurice (United States) – 1:05:54
  3. Colden Longley (United States) – 1:07:32
  4. Devin Allbaugh (United States) – 1:07:41
  5. Patrick Larson (United States) – 1:07:55
  6. Nolan Zimmer (United States) – 1:08:43
  7. Tyler Morey (United States) – 1:08:57
  8. Ian Eklin (United States) – 1:09:52
  9. Dan Greeno (United States) – 1:10:07
  10. Adam Cobert (United States) 1:10:31

Women's division winner: Ann Centner (United States)

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Top finishers:

  1. Ann Centner (United States) – 1:14:23
  2. Sarah David (United States) – 1:16:45
  3. Kimberly Horner (United States) – 1:17:00
  4. Mara Olson (United States) – 1:17:59
  5. Mary Wirtz (United States) – 1:20:12
  6. Breanna Lytton (United States) – 1:22:18
  7. Angela Moll (United States) – 1:23:43
  8. Emma Grimes (United States) – 1:23:46
  9. Kiley Green (United States) – 1:24:06
  10. Kate Eggers-Leaf (United States) – 1:24:08

Grandma's Marathon Wheelchair

Men's division winner: JohnBoy Smith (United Kingdom) 

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Top finishers:

  1. JohnBoy Smith (United Kingdom) – 1:25:45
  2. Herman Garic (United States) – 1:30:18
  3. Callum Hall (United Kingdom) – 1:30:27
  4. Luis Francisco Sanclemente (Colombia) – 1:32:19
  5. Gonzalo Valdovinos (Mexico) – 1:32:29
  6. Alfonso Zaragoza (Mexico) – 1:32:58
  7. Fidel Arnoldo Aguilar Zepeda (Mexico) – 1:34:40
  8. James Senbeta (United States) – 1:38:19
  9. Jose Jimenez Hernandez (Costa Rica) – 1:41:01
  10. Tiaan Bosch (Great Britain) – 1:41:04

Women's division winner: Ivonne Reyes (Mexico) 

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Reyes was the only women's division finisher this year, completing the event with a time of 2:06:47.

Grandma's Marathon

Men's division winner: Milton Rotich (Kenya)

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Rotich, who finished sixth at this race in 2017, outdueled several other runners to finish well out in front with a time of 2:13:04. CJ Albertson, who spent most of the day with Rotich in the lead pack, finished as the runner-up more than a minute off the pace in 2:14:29.

Rotich was greeted at the finish line by fellow Kenyan Boniface Kongin, who won the 2019 Grandma’s Marathon and had to withdraw early on in this year’s race.

Top finishers:

  1. Milton Rotich (Kenya) – 2:13:04
  2. CJ Albertson (United States) – 2:14:29
  3. Joseph Whelan (United States) – 2:16:25
  4. Tyler Jermann (United States) – 2:16:42
  5. Will Norris (United States) – 2:17:04
  6. Jonathan Mott (United States) – 2:17:30
  7. Ryan Archer (United States) – 2:17:51
  8. Garret Lee (United States) – 2:18:21
  9. Birhanu Dare Kemal (Ethiopia) – 2:18:36
  10. Steven Martinez (United States) – 2:19:22

Women's division winner: Dakotah Lindwurm (United States) 

Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
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Dakotah Lindwurm became the first Minnesota woman to win Grandma’s Marathon since Janis Klecker did so in 1987. Lindwurm was the frontrunner for the entire race on Saturday, finishing in a personal record time of 2:29:04.

That time is also the fastest-ever for a Minnesota woman at Grandma’s Marathon, besting the mark of 2:33:01 set by Jennifer Houck in 2011.

Runner-up Katja Goldring (2:31:30) and third-place finisher Tristin Van Ord (2:32:55) also set personal records on Saturday.

Top finishers:

  1. Dakotah Lindwurm (United States) – 2:29:04
  2. Katja Goldring (United States) – 2:31:30
  3. Tristin Van Ord (United States) – 2:32:55
  4. Grace Kahura (Kenya) – 2:33:34
  5. Jane Bareikis (United States) – 2:33:53
  6. Pasca Myers (United States) – 2:36:47
  7. McKale Montgomery (United States) – 2:36:56
  8. Andrea Pomaranski (United States) 2:37:37
  9. Nina Zarina (Russia) – 2:38:49
  10. Paula Pridgen (United States) – 2:39:34

Congratulations to all of the finishers in this weekend's events, regardless of when you crossed the finish line! Check out our photo gallery below, which captures much of the finish line experience as well as portions of the later parts of the race course.

2021 Grandma's Marathon and Garry Bjorklund

Winners and photos of various participants from the 2021 running of Grandma's Marathon and the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon.

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