By the time my head hit the pillow, I'd been up for 21 hours straight. It had been a long day (even longer, considering I was lucky to get 5 hours of sleep the night before), but ultimately a good one. Earlier that morning, I'd run the 6th Annual Missoula Marathon, in Missoula, Montana.
I have several partially written blogs that I just haven't finished, but am determined to finish this one because this is one good race. As is typical after a race, friends ask about it, specifically wanting to hear about how your race went, but also eager to hear about the race itself if they haven't run it. I don't know of anyone in our running group who has run the Missoula Marathon (I don't know anyone period who's run it), so wanted to provide a race review for you.
This is an excellent race that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I highly recommend it. The experience here is not a Boston or a New York City in terms of size, but in terms of quality, I have to say that I think it's a contender. Here's why.
Organization
This race is put on by the local running club, Run Wild Missoula. When you have runners putting on races (versus big corporate entities that are far-removed from being part of the running community), it makes an enormous difference in everything. This race is well-organized, from the pre-race expo all the way through to the finish area and awards ceremony.
The expo is held outside in Caras Park under a big tent structure the day before the race. There, as usual, you pick up your race packet, gear bag (which is nice bag with an outside zippered pocket, by the way), and timing chip. Right there, they have computers set up where you scan your chip to verify that it works and that the information is correct.
The morning of the race, everyone catches a bus that takes you to the start from the parking garage downtown. Missoula does it just like Boston: you get on a big, yellow school bus and are shuttled to the starting area. I caught the bus at 5am (the race start is 6am), and noticed that not only were there plenty of volunteers, but they were very cheerful and knew exactly where to point runners if there were questions about which bus to board. That was pretty clear, though, because they had signs pointing out the buses for the half marathon (on one side of the street) and the full marathon (on the opposite side of the street).
Before they dropped us off at the starting area, one of the friendly race officials boarded our bus, described the starting area, and reminded us NOT to step over the timing mats (but to walk to the side) as they were already activated. The starting area was well-equipped with plenty of porta-potties and the gear bag check. One snafu that did happen was that not all of us got the number stickers (matching our bibs) that were to go on the outside of our gear bags for the transport back to the finish area. Kudos to whoever realized this, because the volunteers were ready with masking tape and sharpies to mark our bib numbers on our gear bags.
Once the race was underway, the aid stations were consistent in the order in which the fluids were handed out (gatorade first, followed by water), and the volunteers were plentiful at each one, as well as enthusiastic. At several (two, I think) of the aid stations, there were gels being handed out (Clif Shots), both caffeinated and non-caffeinated.
After you finished, the finish line area flowed well. Once you received your medal and had your timing chip removed, you could either get your photo taken by one of the two photographers or go immediately into the food tent (and then come back, if you wanted to). The food provided was plentiful and more than the typical post-marathon fare, and there were tables and chairs just past it in case you wanted to sit in the shade after your race. After you walked through the food tent, just around the corner was the gear bag area, and they had the bags organized by bib numbers. As I walked up to get my bag, the volunteer already had it in her hand ready for me!
I should note that I was able to walk around (and around and around) the food tent and back and forth freely in the finish area (versus being made to walk only in one direction). Obviously, that has a lot to do with the size of the race (1111 marathon finishers this year), but it was great because I can't eat immediately following my race, and I always try to keep walking for quite a while before I sit down. Being able to walk around and around that tent kept me in the shade, I could see folks after they finished, and I was also able to get a *real fruit!* popsicle when I was able to eat something. Recovery starts once you cross that finish line, and the set-up at Missoula was helping tremendously with mine!
Course
Simply put, the course is beautiful! It's a long, gradual uphill (though not significant) with a big "bump" of a hill at mile 14. You start the marathon in Frenchtown, which is northwest of Missoula, in the Montana countryside. As we got into the first few miles on Mullen Road, I could hear cows moo-ing in the distance, as if they were cheering us runners on. A little farther down the road, I looked up to see four gorgeous horses in a field on the left side of the road/course, who had gotten curious and run over to the fence closest to us to watch us run past. I made a point to snap that photo in my mind's eye!
At mile 9.4, we turned onto Kona Ranch Road and ran across the river. Still in the countryside, the views were stunning and I had to look around to take them in. Throughout Kona Ranch Road, to Big Flat Road and up the hill at mile 14, across the river at about mile 17, the course meanders the Montana countryside just outside Missoula, and the scenery is all the same: gorgeous. You are, of course, making your way closer and closer into Missoula proper, and it becomes decidedly more residential after you cross the river around mile 17. Be aware that this first part of the course, with few exceptions, is mostly exposed, so you'll want to be prepared with a good hydration strategy and sunscreen. There is some shade part of the way up Big Flat Road, and the hill at mile 14, thankfully, is primarily shaded. I thought the hill was steep, and because it has a false summit then keeps going up, it took a bit more out of me than I would have liked.
Once you hit about mile 17, you're getting into Missoula and it becomes more residential. From there, the course has quite a bit more shade as well as quite a few more turns (someone counted 19+ in the last 10k). There are several round-abouts to deal with, and this was probably the only thing that I really didn't care for about this race course. They weren't huge, but just enough that you couldn't keep that straight line going. As we know, too, a race course will be faster if it doesn't have a lot of turns in it, so that last 10k could be a little frustrating, but I do understand why it is the way it is: because of the finish location. The finish line is at the end of the bridge on Higgins Avenue, where you once again--and one final time--cross the river. The finish line and finish area is on the "upper level" above the riverwalk and Caras Park, and provides a scenic end to a very scenic marathon course.
Volunteers and Spectators
The volunteers and spectators for the Missoula Marathon were simply wonderful. This race has fantastic community support! Volunteers were knowledgeable and enthusiastic from the minute I entered the bus-boarding area that morning, all throughout the race and to the post-race area. It's a long day for the volunteers, too, and yet each one I spoke to (and thanked!) was friendly, encouraging, and truly seemed to be enjoying what they were doing.
You would think that there wouldn't be any spectators at all for the first half of the course, given where you're running. Wrong. While there weren't tons of spectators, there were sporadic groups--sometimes a couple, sometimes a small group--along the way. And they cheered! Of course, the closer you got into town, the more spectators there were, but even at several junctions there were a good number of enthusiastic spectators cheering us on! Because it was warmer than usual, folks all along the course had set out their sprinklers for us to run under. There were a couple of places were they were handing out ice, and I even saw someone set out an ice chest full of ice for us to get if we needed to cool off. I remember a lady playing a ukulele and singing as we ran by (on Big Flat Road, I think), and there seemed to be just enough boom boxes or music of some sort playing at different points. Perhaps the most interesting spectator-provided-music was the gentleman who was playing his baby grand piano on a platform under a small tent, in a tux, in his front yard! I know that Big Sur has that, but this is Missoula, Montana, and this fella probably wasn't contracted to do it, I'm guessing.
The spectators got more and more numerous, and stayed enthusiastic, the closer we got to the finish, and as we turned the corner and started across the bridge on Higgins, they seemed to be lined up all the way across the bridge and cheering us on!
Fabulous volunteers and spectators also make this marathon outstanding!
Awards Ceremony
They have one! The awards ceremony is held in Caras Park, which is just a short walk downstairs from the finish area on Higgins Avenue. There are a bunch of vendors (for lack of a better word) in the tent where the expo was, and you can go to an area where there are computers for you to enter your bib number and get a printout of your official finish time, the split for each half, and your placement (age group, sex, overall). It's a nice touch, since the clock time will be your gun time, but what we all care about is our net time. The one thing that I'd like to see is a printout posted with the age group and overall results for us to check out. That's a minor detail, though. One thing that's different that you need to be aware of is that Missoula allows double-dipping when it comes to awards. I was 4th in my age group, but the gal who won my age group also placed in the overall female masters division. Normally, this would have bumped me up to receive the 3rd place in my age group, but the Missola Marathon awarded her both the overall masters female placement award as well as the age group award.
Bling
The medals for the Missoula Marathon are probably the coolest ones I've seen.
Other
Start time for the race is 6am! Nice and cool, and you get to watch the sunrise. Before the start, there are fireworks, which can really get you pumped up and ready to run.
The photos that were taken (if you wanted them) after you finished? Not only were they high quality (the best post-race photo I've had), but they're provided for free! The photographers hand you a slip of paper with a number on it, and when you walk down to Caras Park, you can go to an area where they'll pull them up and print them for you, also providing a temporary frame card for you to store it. I had my photo taken alone, then after my other friends from my group finished, we got together for a group photo as well. They printed out one for each of us! This meant alot to me, for two reasons: one, because of one my friends was moving to Maui soon and this was probably the last race that we'd run together for a while, if not for good, and two, it's a group photo of friends I run with every week after a race that we all loved!
In addition to those photos, by mid-week after the race, we'd already received an email notification that our on-course photos were ready and--are you ready for this--they're provided for free! These are incredibly nice touches for runners!
The tech shirt is nice. There were different colors for the full marathon, half marathon, and (I'm assuming, though I didn't see it) the marathon relay. It fits well, too.
The post-race food wasn't your typical bagels, fruit, and yogurt. I can't remember everything they served (although I do remember there being pasta), but there was a very good variety there, including the bagels, fruit, and yogurt. I have to make myself eat immediately after a marathon, but that day the only thing I could stomach (and that after walking for quite a while) was the real fruit popsicle. Strawberry popsicles never tasted so good!
Finally, this race is inexpensive, and an amazing "bang for your buck"! In a day when big-city marathons like New York cost $ 255 to register (and don't get me wrong: I love those races... I've run Boston twice and plan to run NYC a second time in November), and not-so-big-city marathons run by another big corporation cost close to $ 200, the Missoula Marathon only cost $ 75 for me to register.
I just really liked this marathon. It was # 7 for me, and I would seriously consider doing it again! With a finishing field of 1111 marathoners this year, it's sure to continue to grow if they keep doing such a fantastic job. The few minor "suggestions for improvement" in the review I wrote on Marathonguide.com are just that--minor, and I wouldn't let that stop me from doing it again, or YOU from doing it the first time.
Good job, Run Wild Missoula! Keep it up!
Relentless Forward Motion, Ya'll...
Great writeup Donna. Congratulations again!
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