Repeat Winner & 1st Time Marathoner Top Podium at 2025 Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon

This year saw the largest Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon weekend to date, with nearly 1,000 participants lacing up their running shoes to compete in the 26K Lake Loop, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon events early Saturday morning. But the number of runners wasn’t the only thing unique about this year’s race—the juxtaposition of the two winners also added a twist.

Ellyssa Peterson of Nashwauk, who is also the Cass Lake-Bena high school cross country coach, won the women’s marathon to become the first back-to-back female winner since Sarah Kemp did it in 2014 and 2015.

“It felt harder,” laughed Peterson. “I was trying to be up there with the guys and I thought about my assistant coach that I coach with at Cass Lake-Bena. He always says, ‘Look at their back and between their shoulder blades.’ So I was just trying to focus on what was ahead, and I felt like I [was going to win] right away, but you never know. But don’t look back, never look back.”

The men’s race was completely the opposite, with Brett Kurschner of Bemidji running in his first ever marathon and then winning it. Kurschner is a former Bemidji cross country runner who helped lead his team to state in the fall of 2022, his senior season.

“I had one goal, and that was just get safely qualified for [the] Boston [Marathon] … and the secondary goal was if winning became an option, go for it,” said Kurschner. “I ran a half marathon last year, and I ran like, [one hour and 17 minutes]. I’ve been running for seven years—this is just going to translate just fine. I’ve always been better at the higher mileage. I put down 11 weeks of hard work since this summer and came out on top.”

To see all the winners, participants, and their times, you can visit the Bemidji Blue Ox Marathon website and click on the Results & Photos tab.