Go the distance! Keep the distance!

COVID-19 may be canceling events, but runners are still finding a way to finish their race. With so many events and marathons being eliminated, folks have had to get creative with their participation. 

Grandma’s Marathon

Up north, Grandma’s Marathon has been an event runners look forward to every year. The 26.2 mile run stretches from Two Harbors to Duluth. With a course that runs alongside Lake Superior, the scenic route offers breathtaking views of nature. Nine thousand participants join together along the North Shore for the race, which began back in 1977.

But with COVID-19 halting plans all over the country, marathons, including Grandma’s, were forced to cancel. Determined to finish the race, though, many set up virtual events, where runners can track their own distance and submit their times on an honor system. As training for a marathon starts months in advance, this option allows runners to complete the highly-anticipated race. Grandma’s Marathon set up a virtual race panel, where participants can submit their times and learn tips and tricks for the virtual run.

Bringing the Race to Buffalo

After learning that the in-person race was canceled this year, Dr. Cynthia (Tia)  Larson, of Buffalo, first thought it wouldn’t be so bad to not have to run the 26.2 miles. When she later learned of the virtual option, however, she was glad for the push.

“I thought, oh good, now I have to run!” she said.

She had originally planned to run up north with her son, daughter, and niece, and even booked the hotel rooms at the finish line early in the year. With the opportunity to complete her twentieth marathon, Tia set out on a mission to participate virtually.

Running from her house on the south side of Buffalo Lake to Montrose twice equaled the 26.2 miles she needed to run, so on June 20, she set out, running with her niece, Adrienne Wojciak, who ran her first half marathon. Though the day was muggy to start, the otherwise cloudy day turned out to be a good day for the run.

Being able to share the experience with her niece added to the special memories from the unique race.

“I am so proud of her,” Tia said. “She took a nice pace and did a great job for her first race.”

Inviting Other Runners

Originally thinking to make the day into an event, where others could join and she could have water stations set up, she realized the planning would be a bigger time commitment than her 13-hour workdays at Stellis Health would allow. Not confining the opportunity to one day also allows runners to choose a day to run with ideal weather. So, she made a vinyl banner to hang up at the “starting line” in front of her home. Her slogan of “Go the Distance! Keep the Distance!” encourages others to join in the race that offers the ability to socially distance while doing so.

“People like a good photo op, too,” she added. She’s seen a few runners posing to take photos by it as they begin and complete their own races.

Local runners are welcome to use the banner and starting point to run their marathons through the end of July. Tia’s home and the banner are located at 1200 Montrose Blvd.

The virtual race may not be what Tia and her fellow runners anticipated, but it also allowed her a moment to reflect on her years of running, and what she hopes to accomplish in the future.

Cynthia’s Road to Racing

 Running “runs” in Tia’s family. Even in her elementary school years, she would be caught running down the halls of the school. She loved watching her brother, Jed Larson, compete in track in high school and college. Since girls’ track wasn’t available until her later high school years, Tia participated in dance line. Her senior year, she ran the mile for track; she was the only one willing to do it.

When she was 14, she began to run the 1.5 miles from her house to the Mink Lake Bridge. At 25, while in medical school, marathoning started to gain popularity. She began training but stopped shortly after becoming pregnant with her first son.

“I believe I would not have made it anyway since I did not know how to train,” Tia said. “I likely would have run too far in the days just prior to the race. More information was available twelve years later when I ran my first race.”

Twenty marathons later, Tia is still going strong and running towards her goal of completing 26.2 marathons and winning one for her age group.

“I’ll get to mile five on the twenty-seventh one and stop,” she joked. “Okay, I know I will keep going!”

With Grandma’s Marathons scheduled out every year so far to 2040, Tia is determined to keep running the race and achieve her goal.