Greg Haapala (Race Director, Grandma's Marathon)

Early Call Time

In this month's interview episode Tony and Eli consider themselves incredibly privileged to have on the Race Director of the first major American Marathon to take place since the pandemic, Greg Haapala of Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN.
After sharing that he is a fellow member of the "One Marathon Club," stumping Tony on what NIRCA (which he helped to found) is, and letting us all know how Grandma's Marathon got its name, Greg shares the real nitty-gritty details of what it took to make Grandma's happen this year, starting with the smaller COVID-safe events Grandma's put on throughout the pandemic (under 300 runners in 14 hours anyone?) and building up to Grandma's weekend. From how they set their marathon weekend field-size and decided to open registration, to what it was like to wait for the state to loosen protocols enough for the race to be able to take place, to how protocols changed further in the final weeks before the race (and how responding to loosened state protocols isn't as easy as it may seem), Greg spills the behind-the-scenes tea on what it took for the Grandma's team to pull off the successful return of large-scale marathoning to the US.
And at the end of this episode, it gets a little dusty in Eli's studio as he asks Greg the ECT Pod's evergreen closer. Wanna know whether Eli keeps it together enough to keep his curmudgeon card? You've gotta listen to find out!
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