For the past few years, some of the country’s most famous races—including New York City, Boston, Chicago, and London—have added nonbinary divisions to make race day more inclusive. With the announcement of its nonbinary division and 2023 DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) efforts, Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota is joining the slow yet steady march toward creating a race culture that invites everyone to the starting line.
Grandma’s Marathon’s newly-minted Running to Common Ground program will welcome 500 people from underrepresented communities and cultures to sign up at a discounted rate, according to the race website. “Grandma’s Marathon is committed to ensuring our event be accessible, safe, and welcoming to all people, especially runners from underrepresented communities or cultures,” reads the program announcement. “This includes, but is not limited to, communities of color, athletes with disabilities, non-binary athletes, and LGBTQI+ athletes.” However, the program is no longer accepting applications for the June 17th race.
In addition, Grandma’s hopes to increase the participation of nonbinary people by allowing non-elite athletes to sign up as nonbinary, gender fluid, gender non-conforming, or genderqueer for any race occurring over the weekend. Race organizers will contact each individual to ask how and if they want their information to be presented in public results. Plus, the top three nonbinary finishers who opt to share their public results will take home prize money.
Grandma’s Marathon
- 1st – $500
- 2nd – $250
- 3rd – $100
Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon
- 1st – $150
- 2nd – $100
- 3rd – $75
Grandma’s also announced that it would accept transgender participation with the guidelines from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the November 2015 Consensus Meeting. These regulations place specific hormonal restrictions on those who have transitioned from male to female and wish to compete in the female category, among other requirements.
Finally, Grandma’s announced that Alison Desir, author of Running While Black, will be a featured guest at the 2023 Grandma’s Marathon weekend. She will appear in two events and sign copies of her book on Friday, June 16th. Angie DeLille of Renew Earth Running and Ben Delokoski of My Team Triumph will also appear in the panel. “During our DEI roundtable discussion, some of our most trusted and experienced partners in this space can speak directly to our participants and give life to the personal experiences, successes, and challenges they’ve had in the sport of road racing,” said Grandma’s.
Kells McPhillips is a health and wellness journalist living in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, The New York Times, Well+Good, Fortune, Shape, and others.
