A Glimpse at Who Is Training for the Missoula Marathon

Close to 450 people are registered for the running, walking and run/walk classes to train for the Missoula Marathon. That’s a lot of people to get to know. We thought it would be fun to get to know some of them and find out why they are training for the Missoula Marathon or Half Marathon.

Name: Barbara Kennedy
Age: 68
Occupation: Business Consultant - Missoula Job Service
Training Class: Walking
Will this be your first marathon / half marathon? This will be my first time walking a half marathon.
What motivated you to sign up for the training class? I was motivated to do this when I joined the RWM Personnel Committee and met the other people and recognized how much they enjoyed it. My husband and I were interested in participating in something to get us out of our recliners ;-) so we decided this would be a fun and healthy activity. We've always been active with different activities, running, walking, biking, canoeing, etc. and want to stay that way!
What is your race goal? My goal is to participate and finish the 1/2 marathon, remain healthy and stay active for many more years!

Name: Daniel Hathaway
Age: 28
Profession: Teller at MFCU
Training Class: Running
Will this be your first marathon / half marathon? It'll be my first Marathon.
What motivated you to sign up for the training class? I'm on the Run4Kids team and it's included as part of our sign up. I trained off and on with the class last year and it was great. I knew I'd need to really try to make every class to survive the full. It's been awesome and I've made some great new running buddies!
What is your race goal? I saw online somewhere that the average male finishing time is 4:32 so that's what I've been shooting for but, honestly I'll be happy with just being on my feet when I get to the finish line.

Name: Gina Brown
Age: 43
Training Class: Running
Will this be your first marathon / half marathon? This will be my first half marathon!
What motivated you to sign up for the training class? My friend Bethany encouraged me to sign up and I really felt like it would be a great thing to do to prepare for my first half marathon! I have had the best time and have learned so much from this class! I can't wait to sign up for it again next year!
What is your race goal? I use a Garmin so my race goal for my Garmin is 2 1/2 hours, my published time will probably be closer to 3 hours because I have Type 1 diabetes which requires me to stop at the aid stations to check my blood sugar. My real goal however is not a time goal, my real goal is to run the whole thing, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna accomplish that! Can't Wait!!!!

Name: Donna Bennett
Age: 65
Profession: Retired
Training Class: Galloway
Will this be your first marathon / half marathon? First Marathon
What motivated you to sign up for the training class? Started running last year. My goal is to run forever and the Galloway program will let me do this.
What is your race goal? To finish.

~ Eva Dunn-Froebig