Latest Registration Numbers

New Numbers registered as of June 26, 2007.

374 marathoners, 345 half marathoners, 194 kids. Registrations from 37 states, 3 Canadian provinces, Australia, Japan and Madrid.

SIGN UP NOW!

www.missoulamarathon.com

GETTING TO THE STARTING LINE via FRIENDS AND FAMILY

The Missoula Marathon does have shuttle buses leaving from the downtown parking garage (Main Street) on the day of the race, starting at 4:50 am.

HOWEVER, for those of you planning on having a personal chauffeur in the form of a friend or family member, here are the drop off locations, rules and parking spots:

MARATHON DROP OFF POINT
Frenchtown Elementary School. From Missoula take I-90 West. Take the Frenchtown Exit and cross the freeway to the Conoco Station. Turn left. Take the first right (maybe 1/10mile). Maybe another 1/10 take a left. You will be staring at the WEST entrance of the elementary school. There is a turn-around driveway. This is the same place that the shuttle buses will be dropping off runners.

There is a good amount of parking in this back area, both in the school parking lot, along the road, and in the Catholic Church parking lot for drivers to park and watch their athlete start.

HALF MARATHON DROP OFF POINT
Take Highway 93 South towards Lolo. Turn right at Peak Wellness Center at Blue Mountain Road (there is a light). The staging area is in the Peak Wellness parking lot. Buses will also be dropping off athletes at that parking lot.

There is NOT enough parking for drivers to remain in the parking lot. Anyone wanting to wish athletes off to a good start, will have to park along side Blue Mountain Rd., and that space will probably run out darn quickly.

Again, you will NOT be allowed to leave your vehicle in the Peak Wellness parking lot except to drop off an athlete. It is the staging area and willbe filled with runners, port-o-potties, and the shuttle buses need to turn around there.

Thanks to one of our runners for asking the question!

Jennifer Boyer

Stay On Pace with the Missoula Marathon!

Hello all you marathoners out there trying to reach a time goal -- we have pacers for you!

The plan is to have pacers for 3:19, 3:29, 3:39, 3:49 and 3:59 finish times. (We assume you would like to BEAT 3:20, 3:30, 3:40, 3:50 and 4:00!)

Pacers will have balloons. Some of our pacers will switch at the halfway point, some will cheerfully take you from start to finish. Many of theserunners are Missoula's very own Team Stampede triathlon team members. Others are from the running club, Run Wild Missoula.

You might notice we use the word PLAN. This is because we aren't paying these people one penny to do this, and if someone wakes up in the morningwith the flu, or the kid is sick, or other unplanned life things happen, we might be down a pace group.

So we'll do our darndest, there will be pace groups out there, and hopefully it will be the pace you want!

Look for the balloons on race day and stay on pace!

Saturday Morning July 14th. Downtown Missoula

Things to do.

1. Run or Walk our 1 Mile or 4 Mile Sundae (as in ICE CREAM) Run as a warm up for the Missoula Marathon & Half Marathon.

2. Then head on downtown to the Missoula Saturday Farmer's Markets and Arts & Crafts Market.

• When: Saturday, July 14, 2007, 8am - 1pm
  Where: On the Clark Fork River near the Higgins Ave. Bridge - Missoula
  Missoula's newest outdoor farmer's market offers a variety of locally-produced meats, vegetables, flowers, plants and baked goods. Located on the Clark Fork river near the Higgins Ave. bridge, the market runs 8 am to 1 pm mid-May to mid-October and Thursday evenings from 5:30 - 7:30 pm June - August.
  406-396-2954 or www.clarkfork.org
  
• When: Saturday, July 14, 2007, 8:30am - 12pm
  Where: Circle Square - Missoula
  Where Missoula meets! Saturdays 8:30 am to noon mid-May through mid-October at Circle Square. Nearly 100 vendors showcase produce, plants, flowers, breads and coffee.
  Call 543-4238 for details.
  
• When: Saturday, July 14, 2007, 9am - 1pm
  Where: East Pine St. - Missoula
  Note Saturdays at 9 am to 1 pm mid-May through mid-October on East Pine Street. Close to 100 vendors offer local arts and crafts and imports.
  Call 543-4238 for details or www.missoulasaturdaymarket.org

3. Go to The Missoula Marathon Expo also downtown On the Clark Fork River under the Higgins Ave. Bridge , next to Caras Park. 12 pm to 7pm . Pick up your race packets and late registrations until 7pm.

Back to www.missoulamarathon.com

Course changes & new Half Marathon Course Map

Some minor course changes were recently made to the marathon & half marathon so the Map of the Marathon Course is not correct with a new map in the works. The written course descriptions of the Marathon and Half Marathon reflect the new changes.

I have posted a new interactive map of the Missoula Half Marathon on the website.
Check it out on the www.runwildmissoula.org/mm/courseroute.html page. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Missoula Marathon registration tops 700

Missoula Marathon registration tops 700
The inaugural Missoula Marathon on July 15 is just around the corner and registration is surging. According to Race Director Jennifer Boyer, 333 runners are registered for the 26.2-mile race. That makes the Missoula Marathon the largest marathon in Montana!Another 312 racers have registered for the half marathon and more than 149 kids are logging their miles for the Missoula Kids Marathon. That’s 794 racers who will make history by participating in this first-ever community event.

Registration facts

- At least 180 of the participants are from states other than Montana. Racers will travel to Missoula from more than 30 states: from Key West , Florida, to Unalakleet, Alaska; from Maine to Southern California.

- Locals are ready to race, too. In the Bitterroot Valley, six children of the Hancock family, ages 7-12, are signed up for the Missoula Kids Marathon. The youngest kids marathoner so far is 4 years old.

- On the other end of the spectrum, the oldest registrant so far is Al Becken, age 78, of San Antonio, Texas. - One family from Michigan has at least one entrant for every race that weekend: marathon, half marathon, kids marathon and the 4-mile Sundae Run on Saturday, July 14.

- The Missoula Marathon is an international event with participants coming from Canada, Spain and Japan.

Get involved

There is still plenty of time to get involved in the Missoula Marathon!

- Become a sponsor of the first-ever Missoula Marathon. There are still great exposure opportunities for all kinds of businesses.

- Reserve a booth at the Missoula Marathon Expo on Saturday, July 14. The expo will be attended by both local and out-of-town athletes and their friends and families. - Get in on the action by volunteering during race weekend.

- Line the course on race day and cheer on hundreds of runners as they make their way to the finish line. If you live along the race course, get out the sprinkler, invite your friends over, and hand out lemonade!

- Join the post-race celebration in Caras Park where runners and supporters alike will celebrate their accomplishments with food and drink from several vendors.
Run the races

Race registration is still open!

- Register for the Missoula Marathon and Half Marathon on or before July 14.

- Register for the Kids Marathon by June 15.

- Register for the Sundae Run events to be held Saturday, July 14.

For more information on the Missoula Marathon, log on to http://www.missoulamarathon.org/

Missoula Marathon Registration Numbers Climbing

Just in from Vic Mortimer, Registration Director

"A few facts: people from at least 33 states, two Canadian provinces, and Japan have registered. This list contains 300 marathon entries, 279 half marathon entries, 134 kids marathon entries. The youngest marathoner thus far is 17; the oldest (so far) is 78.

This list of registrants is complete through June 4 for those who registered online. I still have at least 30 more paper registrations to enter, and I expect that are others still to collect from the post office box. "

To Sign up Now or view the latest list of entries go to www.missoulamarathon.com Registration Page.

Mr. Nishi of Japan Comes to Missoula for the Marathon

Ever heard of Hajime Nishi? Over 500 other marathon communities have! Mr. Nishi is from Japan, and travels the world running marathons and promoting environmentalism, humanitarianism and peace.

Mr. Nishi asked us to support his running of the Missoula Marathon and we are delighted! He's the author of Ecomarathon, an international marathon guidebook. He is currently working on the next edition and the Missoula Marathon will be in it! He estimates the Missoula Marathon will be his 536th marathon. To learn more, log on to www.ecomarathon.org.

You can hear Mr. Nishi speak at the Expo on Saturday, July 14th. Let's welcome him to Missoula and the Missoula Marathon!