Rob Allen's Staging Area

The Missoula Marathon was something I looked forward to since Covid hit and I was not disappointed (apart from my result). The weekend starts on Friday with a decent expo and a beer run (with beer supplied by Big Sky). You can sign up for a post race massage at the expo, for $35 this year. There are a decent amount of hotels walking distance from the finish area. if you stay there you will have around a mile walk on race morning to get to the shuttle buses that take you to the start (this is a point to point race). The scenery for the first 16 miles or so is great, lots of views of mountains no matter which way you turn, after that you end up running through residential areas. The trade off for that is there is actually some crowd support in the later stages of the race. There are port-a-potties at both the shuttle pick up area and the start line.

For a small race (around 1100 runners) there are a myriad of pace groups, pretty much every 10 minutes, so there is a pace group for just about anyone. The aid stations are sparse for the first 20 miles, about 2.5 to 3 miles apart, after that there is one every mile. Every aid station had both PowerAde and water, plus many also had gels if you don’t bring your own (I did not use these). The course, though net elevation gain, is fairly flat for most of the way, but starting on mile 13 there is a significant climb for two miles, and another one on mile 16. Hold back there if you want to protect your legs (I attacked it like an idiot, and killed my legs at mile 14, and topped off by a wonky hamstring, I spent about a third of the last 7 miles walking). The finish comes over a bridge back into the main downtown area, with ample room so that you don’t get trampled by other finishers. What really put this race above lots of others for me was the chocolate milk at the finish. This was the first of the 15 marathons I’ve done that had it! Also another free beer from Big Sky.

Finally, the townsfolk are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Every business was a pleasure to walk into. I highly recommend a nice river tube outing with the Clark Fork Yacht Club for some relaxation the day before the race. Since I’m a 50 state attempter I will not do this marathon again but I would definitely consider coming back out to this town, whether it’s to spend more time in the area or to do the half. And to top it off, the main downtown is only about 12 minutes from the airport. We didn’t see any taxis there so we Ubered to and from the hotel.

This is a nicely run small race. It starts and ends at The Hangout. Pre-race you can wait inside if it’s chilly (it was).

Most of this race is on paved trail, with quite a bit of boardwalk, which is slippery if wet. It’s tough to run tangents for the first seven miles because of the narrow path plus mix of half and full runners. After the half splits off then it becomes much more open.

Water stops were up to two miles apart at times. I carried a hand held bottle.

At about 1.5 miles to go you have to climb up a ramp to cross over the road. After that woe be to you if it’s windy, I slowed significantly for that last stretch thanks to the head wind.

As with all small races I’ve done, the medal is large. In fact I had to take it off after the race because I felt it dragging me down. Also there were sandwiches after the race.

My wife and I really enjoyed the town too, we’d consider coming back.

Although I previously lived in Yonkers for 18 years this was the first time I did this race. This is known to be a tough course, but really apart from the climb up Tompkins it’s not that bad. That being said, I’m glad I didn’t have to do another lap.

There’s no expo, but you can pick up your bib the day before (I did). If you pick it up on race day there’s a line.

Note that the streets are not closed. During the downtown portion and part of Nepperhan Ave it’s coned off to keep the cars off you. Once you get to north Yonkers the cones disappear and the rest of the way you could have cars near you.

Finish line had a decent amount of post-race food and water. Also the course itself has water stations every mile, which I consider to be a big plus. Three or four of them also had gatorade.

The last part of the race is down Warburton Ave, with views of the Hudson. Other than that you’re running through downtown first, then an industrial area, then a residential area.

The race starts and finishes near the Yonkers train station, with free parking at the Buena Vista lot, and Yonkers Brewing Co. nearby and open early for half finishers. If my marathon schedule permits it I will likely do this race over and over again going forward.

Bib pickup is via schedule, you have to choose a slot ahead of time, so make sure you check your emails. The expo was small. The race is a loop, and finishes at the Pelicans baseball stadium, where there is a good party, and leg compression units (first time I’ve used them). This could be a relatively easy race, but having trained in cold weather, I was not able to deal with the temperatures in the 70s and I bonked around mile 19, even after choosing to go at a slower pace at the start. This was my worst marathon by time, but overall I enjoyed the experience. The 4:15 pacers were quite nice, and I am now connected to them in Strava. Even they had trouble keeping up the pace, and the 4:30 pacer never passed my in spite of me finishing in 4:32 and change. Tough day overall.

Two things killed me in this race. One was not the course’s fault, but I got air sick on the flight out, so I was not able to eat much that Friday, so my strength was sapped my the half marathon point. And then to boot the wind on Lake Pontchartrain was brutal, and combined with the bridges this marathon was one of my worst performances.

This is a nice small event with around 500 runners I believe. It was very nice to hear my name called out as I crossed the finish line on the boardwalk. Crowd support is light, as this is not a populous area and parts of it is through parks and even on gravel paths. There is one hill to worry about, around mile 16 if memory serves me, where we go up across a bridge over a river. Aid stations and both water and gatorade but were roughly two miles apart, so I carried water. The after party was quite good. I got VIP because this race was on my birthday, so I also got indoor bathrooms and breakfast food before the race, and a free massage after. The medal is quite nice, but the stock shirt given out didn’t have the date on it and has some cotton in it, so I don’t wear it to run.

This is a nice course that goes through many parts of Nashville, from the city out to the residential areas, through the minor league ball park, and around a park. If you’re adventurous the residents you pass early in the race are offering beer (I stayed away). If I remember correctly the water stops were about 1.5 to 2 miles apart. I didn’t carry but wish I had. It’s somewhat sad to see the half marathoners cutting into the stadium to finish knowing you still have 10 miles to go. I completely bonked at mile 22. If you do the race you should really focus on not going out too fast. The medal was small but nice looking. The tech shirt was a real tech shirt, I still train with it. The expo was pretty decent. Finally, I highly recommend the free leg message that was given out after the race, it helped me considerably.