Missoula Marathon

First things first: I love Missoula! I ran a half-marathon in Missoula in 2013, which was only the second timed race of my life with bib numbers, and the experience back then hooked me on endurance running.

I ran the Missoula full marathon one time before, in 2014, and am happy to say that I ran a then-personal best time of 3:37:38, good enough to qualify for Boston in my age group. I didn’t take the opportunity to run Boston the following year in 2015, and in retrospect I wish I had. Read my previous race rave for how it went in 2017 for insight as to why. I won’t bore you with it here, and I just want to touch briefly on this race itself validating for me that I’m slowing down a little as I get older 🙁 I went out with the intention of testing my fitness level after a fairly slow result in Boston, and ended up with an even slower result in Missoula. But I want to make this about Missoula, not myself, so here goes:

Missoula is the perfect first full-marathon, in my humble opinion. I did run it as my second in 2014, but if you’re reading this and trying to decide whether to enter next year my advice is GO FOR IT! You have one real uphill beginning right at the Mile 13 marker, and once you’re up there you are in the shade of a riot of beautiful pines, rolling up and down a bit until you head down a fast hill before an aid station a couple of miles later. Other than that it is as advertised: flat and fast.

But that’s not all. Missoula is a college town accessible by I-90, the last town of any real size heading west on your way to the skinny part of Idaho, and there is a unique flavor to the general friendliness of the townfolk, very many of whom populate the expo and the race courses to volunteer for what I have to believe is becoming their town’s signature annual event. The support is nothing short of superb, and for a small city the amount of spectators that come out for the racers is heartening.

I was asked by my adult daughter this year if I’d like to volunteer at the expo the day before the race this year, and I had so much fun that I will most likely do it every year going forward. They put the two of us on the chip verification table, helping folks wave their bibs over a reader and check their own data on PC monitors. I come to this race from 1,000 miles away from Colorado, and though I knew that most of the United States and a lot of the rest of the world have entrants it was a blast meeting so many of them. I even met a guy from my mother’s home town in Ohio!

Every year the shuttles to the start get more and more organized – they now have a shuttle running from the finish area downtown to the university where racer’s are required to park, adding to the convenience.

Besides the scenery, the people, the relative smoothness of the course, et al, there is also a feature that I believe is completely unique to American marathons: the piano guy. A local professional musician dresses up in tux and tails every year, wheels a grand piano out onto his lawn along the course at about the 16th mile, and plays for the runners as they go by. He’s very good, too! I put a tip in a snack baggie this year, and wrapped it around a dog fetch ball with a rope tied through the holes to toss to him, and because I left him a note he replied thanking me, too. This is a tradition I’d love to see at least a few other people pick up and help me get started – the first time you’ll see him I think you’ll understand why I am compelled to show my appreciation.

Then there’s the Higgins Street Bridge, which is the very last stretch to the finish line just before Front Street. The locals line the bridge on both sides, cheering their hearts out for everybody.

I Love Missoula! Even after Boston, this is still my favorite race. Try it and see for yourself.