I was off to Chicago for a book signing at the Fleet Feet running store, then to Manitoba for their marathon and lastly Duluth, MN.

The Manitoba Marathon is one of those hidden jewels hosted by the fine city of Winnipeg.  I hit this race the past 2 years and loved the whole weekend of fun activities. My speaking gigs are normally hosted at a pasta dinner, at the race it’s a runners breakfast held the morning before the race. If you want to run a flat course this course is pancake flat.

The 32^nd running of the Grandma’s Marathon named after a saloon, you don’t have to be a Grandmother to run the race. This course can be lightning fast this year it was a bit warm which slowed down the runners a tad. If you want to see how a community embraces race Grandma’s is the ultimate. Race weekend in Duluth runners rule and the race is all everyone talks about. Everywhere you go in Duluth everyone will wish you well in the race.

The day after the race a full-page picture appeared in the Duluth News Tribune showing a runner dumping water on his head. The caption read Bart Yasso cooling off during the marathon; the funny was I didn’t run the race. The race was kind enough to give a bib number and I think the runner in the photo had a number very close to mine. I spent my day hanging at the finish line greeting runners as they finished.

Bart