Grandma's Marathon to remain at half capacity this year
6/16/2007---A sea of runners take off at the start of GrandmaÕs Marathon in Saturday morning in Two Harbors MN. (Photo by Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images) ((Photo by Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
DULUTH, Minn. (FOX 9) - Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota will remain at half capacity this year due to health concerns amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to event officials.
Like many events, the popular marathon was canceled last year due to the coronavirus.
In October, organizers opened up registrations for the 2021 events at half capacity, with the hopes that future guidelines would allow for more people to attend.
"As badly as we wanted to increase our in-person capacity, we understand the importance of developing a COVID-modified race plan that can be approved by the state and executed as safely as possible for those who have already registered," said executive director Shane Bauer in a statement. "Zeroing in on the expected number of participants was an important step in continuing our planning process."
Event officials are expecting about 10,000 participants at this year's Grandma's Marathon weekend, which is scheduled for June 17-19.
People can also sign up to run one of the races virtually.