As the inaugural Iron Range Half Marathon horn blew out over the Mesabi Trail, over two hundred runners took off on the next 13.1-mile adventure.  

“They’re running the entire marathon on the Mesabi trail, and they also get to cross the tallest bridge in Minnesota, which is the town of Rukavina Memorial Bridge. So, it goes through Eveleth, Gilbert and Virginia. So, it’s touching all three communities on the Mesabi trail,” said Kate Putnam, one of the board members for the event.

The marathon is the first of its kind on the Iron Range and found the perfect day to connect with the community.

“There are a couple people on our organization that wanted to bring this event and have a marathon in our area where they felt we were lacking and they thought it would be a good community event to do it at the same time as we did Brewfest in the park this afternoon. And there’s also a car show downtown. So, we kind of wanted to make it like a big day for the whole event,” said Putnam.

About an hour and twenty minutes after they began, the first male and female finishers came racing across the line. Dan Scally took the leading male spot with a time of 1:19:31.78, and Serena Sullivan the female with a time of 1:26:32.06.

“I’m from Hibbing, so I wanted to support the Iron Range and so it was a fun thing to be a part of and just a local half marathon, which is pretty sweet to be out here,” said Scally.

“Yeah, I mean the start was a little rough. There’s a little bit of a dirt trail, so footing was a little bit rough, but otherwise, you know, you get going and you just kind of fall into rhythm and hope for the best,” said Sullivan.

Both runners, Iron Rangers themselves, also took part in Grandma’s Marathon weekend earlier in the summer.

“Today was a great course. I would say it was my second favorite course in northern Minnesota, next to Grandmas, which I just ran. But this was a beautiful course,” said Scally.

“I’d say Grandma’s is more straightforward. There was a lot of push and turns in this. This had a lot of long gradual inclines, so those were pretty tough on the legs, but it also had some really fast downhills, so that was a lot of fun,” said Sullivan.

The Iron Range Half Marathon found a way to connect athletes and community members alike, from the horn to the finish line. And as the event continues to grow, those who took part this year, will remember the race that began it all.

“Yeah, I would recommend if you’re in northern Minnesota, even Duluth and this region come out next year and support an awesome half marathon,” said Scally.

For more information, go to Iron Range Half Marathon – Home