Big Marathons Happy with Registration Pace

Officials at the Grandma's and Medtronic Twin Cities Marathons say they are happy with the pace of registration for their respective races.

Grandma's Marathon, which is scheduled for June 18, announced late last week that it was more than half-full -- registering more than 5000 runners for what will be the 35th anniversary of the Duluth event.

“We are very pleased with the rate of marathon registrations," Scott Keenan, executive director of Grandma’s Marathon said in a media release. "Our numbers are well ahead of where we were last year at this point and we are seeing a steady pace of runners securing spots for our 35th marathon celebration."

Last year, the Grandma's field topped out at 7387 runners. In 2009, after filling to capacity for 15 straight years, Grandma's hosted 8377 marathoners. The race's capacity is 10,000 runners.

This morning, Twin Cities In Motion officials told DtB that registration for the 30th Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon had gotten off to a good start. Nearly 3300 marathoners had registered through Monday for the race which has a capacity of 11,2o0. TCM opened registration last Wednesday.

The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon has filled for the past 23 years.

Also ... Last week, Twin Cities In Motion unveiled a new log for its signature event, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. The logo below will replace the "Leaf Man" logo that had been the icon for the race since 1985.

"Leaf Man" will live on, however, as part of Twin Cities In Motion's organizational logo.