Event Sets New Record with 8,220 Finishers
(DULUTH, MINN.) — It was one known commodity and one relative unknown first to cross the finish line on Saturday morning in the 2025 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, offering a perfect juxtaposition between the champions in the event’s 35th running.
Annie Frisbie arrived in Duluth the favorite in the women’s race, that after winning for the first time last year and smashing the event record in the process. She and Minnesota Distance Elite teammate Dakotah Popehn finished 1-2 a year ago, and they did so again on Saturday.
Frisbie, 28, finished just eight seconds ahead of Popehn, 30, with a time of 1:09:05 – more than 90 seconds slower than her record-setting run from a year ago. She becomes only the third woman to have multiple titles at the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, joining Kelly Keeler and Debra Gormley, who each have three.
Murphy Smith, meanwhile, emerged from a wide-open field on the men’s side to win in his first-ever appearance in Duluth. Just 10 days ago, he was representing Navy in the 10,000-meters in the NCAA Championships, where he finished 14th.
Smith, 22, finished in 1:02:49 and was more than a minute ahead of runner-up Mohammed Bati. He is the event’s youngest men’s champion since 19-year-old John Klecker won in 2003.
Taylor Longshore, 22, won the non-binary category with a time of 1:40:35.
This was easily the largest Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon on record, with 8,220 total finishers to beat the old mark of 7,918 from 2016. Full results of the 2025 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon can be found HERE.