The 37th running of the race in 2013 saw the first time that more people registered for the Bjorklund Half Marathon than Grandma's Marathon. Just two tenths of a second ended up separating the pair. The 35th edition of the marathon in 2011 had its first photo-finish: eventual winner Christopher Kipyego mistook the electronic timing mat for the finish point and prematurely stopped, leading to an impromptu sprint finish against Teklu Deneke. Lifetime entries were offered in 1987 (for $100) and again in 1990 (for $125) to help increase the number of runners entering the race. Executive director Scott Keenan suggested that the economy was the main reason for the downturn in participants. After high numbers in the '90s and '00s, 2009 was the first time in 15 years that all of the 9,500 available spots were not filled, leading to a deficit in the race budget.
Thousands of runners and visitors fill the marathon, half and 5K races. The race is a major event on the North Shore, filling hotels in many cities around Duluth. In 2005, Halina Karnatsevich was the first finisher with a time of 2:33:39 but she was later disqualified for failing her post-race doping test. The women's record time is 2:24:28, set in 2018 by Kellyn Taylor. The previous record of 2:09:37, set in 1981 by Wayzata, Minnesota, native Dick Beardsley stood for 33 years before being broken. The men's record time for Grandma's is 2:09:06, set in 2014 by Dominic Ondoro of Kenya. Grandma's Marathon is now run by almost 10,000 runners every year, has nearly a $2 million operating budget and is credited with bringing tens of millions of tourist dollars into the city of Duluth.
Race organizers then named the new race after the restaurant. The newly opened Grandma's Restaurant was the only local business that would sponsor the then-fledgling event, for the fee of $600. Grandma's was first run in 1977 with only 150 participants the first race was won by Minnesotan and 1976 Olympic 10000m runner Garry Bjorklund. Finishers by year, total and men and women
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