Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon 2025 – Race Recap

I felt so confident going into the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon (aka Grandma’s Half) on Saturday . . . .maybe a little too confident? I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I usually am and my recent 5K and workouts indicated I was ready to run 1:22/1:23 in the half. But sadly, the actual result was much slower than I thought.

I’ve always prided myself on being able to predict what I could run for a race and then execute the race and get pretty close to my prediction, but Saturday’s half was far from what I thought I would run.

It hit me when I was DM-ing a follower on Instagram that I have had more “bad” races than good races over my running career, but it is that feeling after those good races that keeps me coming back and fighting to achieve that feeling again. Because when you do nail your goal and hit your time goal, it is a feeling like no other!

But let’s back up . . . . .

Friday morning I did an easy 3 mile shake-out on the treadmill because it was raining, lightening, and thundering outside. I ran super slow (for me) at a 10:00 min/mi pace, which is about 2 minutes per mile slower than I would run outside, but it was what felt truly easy that morning. The storm let up by the end of my run, so I did a few strides outside, and my legs felt ready to go!

I ate breakfast, got ready, and finished packing before leaving around 10:00 a.m. that morning. On my way to Duluth, I picked up my sister for the weekend. Craig and the boys were supposed to come with me, but then we found out Cullen had a soccer tournament that weekend, so Craig stayed back home with the boys. I was bummed they couldn’t go, but I was also looking forward to a girls weekend with my sister.

We got to Duluth around 3:00 p.m., which took a little longer than normal with the traffic and construction on the interstate. We checked into our hotel room at the Holiday Inn, which is the host hotel for the weekend. It is nice having access to the skywalk to the convention center where the expo is, and the elite buses pick up from this hotel on race morning, which is why I opted to stay here. But the rooms in Duluth this weekend are crazy-expensive, and our room as pretty sub-par with no exterior window and it hadn’t been updated since it was built. Anyway, not the end of the world, just unfortunate for how much the room was.

We then headed to the expo and stopped to say hi to a few friends and brands we have partnered with, which was fun to connect with those people again. I got my bib in the elite area, and then I ate at the spaghetti dinner. I get to eat free as an elite, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have paid for the meal. After that, Kristy and I went outside to get a clip for the reel I was in the process of making for Instagram. I was lip syncing to a song, and it took me far too many tries to get it right, which caused a lot of hysterical laughter.

We got back to our hotel room around 6:00 p.m. and proceeded to wind down for the night as I wanted to be in bed by 8:00 a.m. for my 3:00 a.m. alarm. I ended up shutting my light off closer to 8:45 p.m. because I was having a hard time uploading my Instagram reel. I had a hard time falling asleep even though I didn’t feel that nervous about the race. I laid awake for quite a while before falling asleep–whereas I am usually out within a few minutes. I also woke up a few times because of the obnoxious air conditioner kicking on and just paranoia about my alarm going off.

I woke up at 1:45 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I decided to finally get up around 2:45 a.m. and get a jump-start on my morning since I often need extra time anyhow. I did my normal pre-race routine: shower, shave legs, put my race kit on, start eating my pre-race fuel, pin my bib on, and alternate between doing my make-up and hair.

I was ready just a few minutes before 4:00 a.m., which was perfect as I had planned to leave just a few minutes after 4:00 a.m. to get onto my bus. I was on the floor rolling out my legs, looking at my phone when I decided to check my email–normally not something I would do! I saw an email from Grandma’s Marathon, and the title stated the race was delayed by 30 minutes!

So I hung out in the hotel room some more, reading encouraging DMs and comments on Instagram (seriously, I have the best followers), and then I woke my sister up to let her know the race was delayed.

At 4:40 a.m. I headed down to the elite bus which picks up right outside the Holiday Inn. I ended up sitting right in front of Dakotah Popehn and Annie Frisbie, which was so exciting to listen to their chatter on the way to the race. (If you read my race recap last year, I got to sit right across from them last year as well!) They didn’t say anything too much–Dakotah was drinking her bicarb, and Annie complimented her on her Instagram reel she posted the night before.

It was a good 30 minute bus ride to the start, and then the elites get dropped off about half a mile in front of the start. We had a little walk to the elite tent, but it was really pretty with the fog that morning.

I did a 10 minute jog, some stretches, and then changed into my racing shoes before doing some drills and strides. I also took my pre-race gel about 15 minutes before the start. One thing I noticed this year was that every elite seemed to be taking a gel prior to the start whereas last year I swear I was the only one. I probably just didn’t see others taking a gel, but it is nice to know the elites are fueling well for their races too.

Once we were lined up for the start, I did my best to stay lose until the gun went off. It felt like forever, but eventually the race started, and we were off. Inevitably I almost always start out too fast–just like everyone else. I usually glance down at my watch after running a couple of minutes and see a time 5-10 seconds per mile faster than my goal time, but often I take this as a good sign as the effort feels appropriate even if it is race adrenaline coming out. Well, this time when I looked down at my watch, it read 10 seconds per mile slower than the pace I wanted. I immediately thought, “Oh, this is a bad sign” because the effort felt appropriate for me. I tried to push those thoughts to the side and rationalize, “Just give yourself a mile or two to warm up and you’ll probably feel better.” I know they say, “Don’t judge a run by the first mile,” but I am almost always the opposite as I can predict how a run is going to go by the first mile. But I did best to not let myself get too negative.

Mile 1 – 6:27
Mile 2 – 6:23
Mile 3 – 6:30
Mile 4 – 6:28

After a few miles of paces right around 6:30, I knew I was going to have to stay here because the next gear would have felt too hard, and I would have risked blowing up. I tried to reframe my goals and told myself to go after a course PR. (Spoiler alter: that didn’t even happen.) I saw a couple people I knew as they passed me, and I so badly wanted to go with them, but I also knew that wouldn’t be smart so early in the race.

Mile 5 – 6:31
Mile 6 – 6:31

I did take a gel around mile 7, but this is also when the wheels started to fall off even more.

Mile 7 – 6:41
Mile 8 – 6:41
Mile 9 – 6:41
Mile 10 – 6:41

At least I was consistent??

I remember parts of the race and course but nothing stood out as too memorable. I was taking water in at most aid stations as I knew it was a little warmer than expected. I didn’t necessarily feel hot, but I was having to wipe my upper lip quite a bit, which is my sign my body is hot.

I remember running through the Mill City and On cheering sections, and those were great! The rest of the course definitely had some good cheering but nothing too crazy-exciting since it was still 7 o’clock in the morning and the marathon hadn’t even started yet.

Mile 11 – 6:44
Mile 12 – 6:41
Mile 13 – 6:33

I tried to push the pace the last mile as there is some good downhill, but I had very little left in the tank and my EILO breathing issues started to kick in with 0.5 mile to go, but that’s actually pretty good for me because usually they start earlier.

As I crossed the finish line, I was definitely disappointed with my time, but I also knew I had given it my best shot. I saw Mary (@itsamarython) and Alissa (@alissakolarik) and said hi to them before finding my sister. It was then that I realized just how humid it was! I had Kristy check her phone, and it said the temperature was 69*F and 87% humidity. I didn’t notice it was much running, but I also knew I was sweating more than usual based off my crop being sweaty on my back and having to wipe my upper lip more than usual.

I shuffled over to the elite bag pick-up, talked to a couple other people I knew through Instagram before heading to the elite post-race building where there was food for us and an awards ceremony for the top five men and women.

After that, Kristy and I headed back to the hotel. Kristy finished out her long run, and I called Craig to talk to him about my race.

At the end of the day, I know a great race doesn’t come around that often. I just thought this would go a lot better since training had been going well. I don’t mind the heat and humidity, and I had done a couple weeks of heat training to prepare, so I thought I would fare better than I did. In many ways I still had a good time racing, and I know I am lucky to be able to run as fast as I can at my age.

I have a couple fun races at the beginning of July, and then I’m racing a mile mid-July, which is always a bit intimidating, I am excited to see if I can run faster than I did last year for it.