The Ely Marathon is a race in Ely, Minnesota, first run in 2015. After successfully adding a sanctioned canoe portager category in the half marathon, the category was added to the marathon in 2018. In the canoe portage, runners can compete with the others who carry a canoe over their heads, deeming the race "the 8,390 rod portage".
In November 2025, the organizers announced that the race would be put on pause due to financial concerns.
History It is the only marathon portage in the world, so the first finisher in 2018 set a world record. The record was broken in 2019 by more than 23 minutes, then broken again in 2021 by more than 36 minutes. In 2024, both the men's and the women's portage world records were broken by Drew Boysen and Victoria Ranua respectively. In 2016, Daniel Drehmel ran the marathon with his partner, Abby Dare, and the two of them took turns carrying the canoe in order to raise awareness about the potential threats to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.
The race is run in September, and 97 runners finished in 2018. The course begins deep in the woods at Camp Du Nord, the north side of Burntside Lake, and finishes in Ely. Racers must be shuttled there, as there is not enough room for parking and camping near the starting line.
In March and April 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellations of all the major marathons around the world, the Ely Marathon staff hoped the marathon would go on as planned. They worked on ways to run the races while protecting the health of the runners and held the September start date.
On July 10, they cancelled all races for 2020, and announced that all registrations could roll into the 2021 races. Only the 5K would have a virtual race.
Winners Key:
YearCategoryMenWomen2024 Results Sept. 21, 2024OpenBrent Smith683:12:19Amy Bianco Regan293:17:01PortageDrew Boysen304:11:04Victoria Ranua445:25:34 2023 Results Sept. 23, 2023Open Hudson Kingston 40 2:55:51 Crystal Culhane 44 3:26:51Masters Hudson Kingston 40 2:55:51 Crystal Culhane 44 3:26:51Portage Jacob Bendel 32 4:36:42 2022 Results Sept. 24, 2022Open Robert Henderson 38 2:57:06 Sorcha Ash 22 3:35:07Masters Andy MacNamara 41 3:15:15 Linda Belanger 55 4:01:29Portage Sunshine Gardner 28 4:45:45 2021 Results Sept. 25, 2021Open Andrew MacNamara 40 3:09:02 Lisa Smith 39 3:10:46Masters Andrew MacNamara 40 3:09:02 Sarah Anderson 44 3:49:14Portage Anthony Peter 41 4:23:20 2020 Results Sept. 27, 2020Race cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2019 Results Sept. 21, 2019Open Andrew MacNamara 38 2:52:13 Stacy Torkelson 37 3:44:30Masters Jeff Curtin 55 3:20:58 Jess Sedivy Gunderson 41 3:56:31Portage Anthony Peter 39 5:00:01 Auralee Strege 30 6:49:29 2018 Results Sept. 22, 2018Open Russell Groebner 49 3:13:49 Shaelin Lekatz 21 3:43:37Masters Russell Groebner 49 3:13:49 Kristin Hettich 45 3:51:00Portage Daniel Drehmel 31 5:23:48 2017 Results Sept. 23, 2017Open Hudson Kingston 34 2:59:01 Kathy Provenzano 43 3:33:36Masters Kelly Ecklund 53 3:13:49 Kathy Provenzano 43 3:33:36 2016 Results Sept. 24, 2016Open Nathaniel Langlie 18 2:47:25 Auralee Strege 27 3:00:41Masters Chad Shilson 45 3:13:49 Debra Hultman 55 3:24:35 2015 Results Sept. 26, 2015Open Declan Curley 48 2:56:55 Rebecca Peterson 43 3:35:47Masters Declan Curley 48 2:56:55 Rebecca Peterson 43 3:35:47
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