Grandma’s Marathon
2025 official poster
Grandma’s Marathon is one of the largest marathons in the US, drawing over 20,000 participants annually and $40 million of economic impact for the region.
Every year, they select a local artist to draw or paint the official poster. Since I’m from Duluth, Minnesota, where the race is held, I was fortunate enough to be selected as the artist for 2025.
My poster was the first in Grandma’s history to completely sell out (100 sold in six hours) and call for a re-order of prints (over 300 more sold).
Process work/Thought process below.
2025 | PEN AND ACRYLIC PAINT | $2700 COMMISSION
Currently available for purchase at Siivii’s Gallery in Duluth MN
Process
I explored many concepts with feedback from the executive director of the marathon. I settled on the start line idea (shown on the right) because the start didn’t get any attention in past posters, and it was one of my favorite aspects of the marathon.
Having moved to upstate New York for college, I would often describe Grandma’s Marathon to friends by showing them a picture of the start line, which does a great job of showing the sheer scale of the event. There’s also a number of memorable elements: the train, the flyover, and the early morning sunrise. All unique parts of Grandma’s that deserve the same spotlight that is usually reserved for the finish line.
Once the composition was decided, I sketched out all the details in pencil, and then went over it all in pen. I do my best work in pen and ink, so this allowed me to get the details right before taking a leap of faith when adding color.
I then mounted the pen drawing to hardboard, sealing it for acrylic paint.
This project directly overlapped with the finals week of my third year at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), in which I was studying Illustration and had several other art projects to complete at the same time.
I set up camp in an unoccupied classroom, explained the situation to my professors, saying that I wouldn’t be able to give my all to finals this semester, and spent all day, every day, in the corner of that room working.
With the help of that sunlit classroom corner and a Google Slides deck full of references, I completed the painting and shipped it to Duluth.
This project is the largest commission I’ve worked on to date, and by far the most rewarding. I’m looking forward to more projects like this in the future!