iStockphoto / AlxeyPnferov
The city of Scandia, Minnesota was the epicenter of the sports world this weekend with the 2025 ‘Running of the Meatballs,’ a city block long race of meatballs.
I know what you’re thinking ‘Cass, it was the first NFL Sunday yesterday and some of the best College Football games in years on Saturday’ but to that I would ask: have you ever been to a meatball race?
The proceeds from the Running of the Meatballs goes to charitable causes, of course. And it is an annual event held by the Gammelgarden Museum of Scandia as a fundraiser. But seeing this, my first though was side action… I want to live in a world where we’re laying action on meatball races.
2025 Running of the Meatballs Race
The meatball race actually lasted well over two minutes. I would have expected 30 seconds max. But maybe that’s why the video has already picked up 200K views on TikTok:
@gammelgarden_museum 2025 The Running Of The Meatballs for Gammelgården Museum in Scandia Minnesota! 🇸🇪🍝 WINNERS ANNOUCED ON INSTA AND FACEBOOK! #Scandia #Minnesota #Gammelgarden #runningofthemeatballs #tacodaze
The Gammelgården of Scandia is a museum that promotes Swedish culture, hence the meatballs. It’s not just IKEA that is known for its Swedish meatballs, this museum in Scandia, Minnesota apparently makes a mean meatball as well.
The Big Winners
The top meatball in the 2025 Running of the Meatballs was #534 who went home $500 richer! Can you image winning $500 in a meatball race?!
11 meatballs paid out in the race and the museum announced the winners after sharing the video:
The total population in Scandia, MN is under 4,000. Based on the video, it looked like everyone in town was out for the race. You love to see it.