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Local runner honored at Grandma’s

Mike Korpi joins Duluth marathon’s 1,000-miler club

Posted 6/23/21

REGIONAL- More than four decades after he ran his very first Grandma’s Marathon, Mike Korpi, of Soudan, has joined an elite group as one of the newest members of the event’s 1,000-Miler …

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Local runner honored at Grandma’s

Mike Korpi joins Duluth marathon’s 1,000-miler club

Posted

REGIONAL- More than four decades after he ran his very first Grandma’s Marathon, Mike Korpi, of Soudan, has joined an elite group as one of the newest members of the event’s 1,000-Miler Club this year.
Korpi, a Soudan native, ran his first Grandma’s Marathon in 1980 in a time of 3:26:59 and has been back every year since. This will be his 42nd consecutive year at the event, meaning he will have logged more than 1,100 miles on the course from Two Harbors to Duluth.
“The recognition means the world to me,” Korpi said of entering the 1,000-miler club. “I feel extremely blessed to have run every Grandma’s Marathon since 1980. It’s such a wonderfully organized race, and the volunteers and spectators make me want to return each and every year. I just love being part of Grandma’s Marathon and its history.”
Larry McNichols, of Morris, also ran his 42nd Grandma’s Marathon this year. Korpi and McNichols were the ninth and tenth recipients of the Grandma’s Marathon 1,000-Miler Award, which requires participation in a minimum of 39 lifetime events.