“It's so much easier this year in that people have an idea of what to expect and know what to do with the areas they are responsible for and how to make preparations go smoothly,” said Jennifer Straughan, Missoula Marathon race director.
“We have a little more cash to work with this year,” she said, “which is great because we can spend money on areas that are investments in something that will help us out for the long haul, like investing in new signs for the route.”
So far, residents from every state except Delaware, Rhode Island and Maine will be running on Sunday, including 17 Canadians, a couple from Australia, and runners from Scotland, France and Indonesia.
The number of runners is roughly equal to last year's total registration of 1,360. Runners had until 6 p.m. Saturday to register for any of the events, and there is a time-honored tradition of registering at the last minute, Straughan said.
“Runners want to be sure they are healthy enough to run a race,” she said. “And anything can happen during training. You have to start training a long way out and you never know what's going to happen in your life with family plans, if you get injured or you might just not feel good the week of the race.”
An army of nearly 400 volunteers is helping to make this year's event run smoothly, and will be staffing the marathon's 18 aid stations, directing runners and traffic along the route, and assisting with crowd control at the finish, said Jeri Delys, volunteer coordinator.
“It never a surprise to me how incredibly generous this community is, and the support for this event has just been amazing,” Delys said. “People have rallied to help. Even people who don't run want to help and be supportive.”
Ever since its inception in the spring of 2006, when a small group of runners first began serious efforts to promote a marathon in Missoula, the event has garnered support from the greater community.
Like many grass-roots efforts in Missoula, no one involved with the marathon had ever planned one before.
“It was definitely a leap of faith,” Straughan said. “But we were committed to putting it together and seeing what would happen.”
Olympic runner and Missoula resident Courtney Babcock lent her expertise by charting the marathon's course. Steve Simpson helped get the course certified as a Boston Marathon qualifier. Missoula attorney Kevin Twidwell helped with the legalities. Anders Brooker, owner of Runner's Edge, secured the name “Missoula Marathon” - and in partnership with the local running club, Run Wild Missoula, an 18-week training class was launched in March 2007 to help new runners get fit enough to complete the Missoula Half Marathon or Marathon.
Sixty people showed up for the first session, wondering what it would take to reach the finish line.
Despite the rigorous training schedule and the miles and commitment it demanded, all 60 signed on and stayed to train for the entire 18 weeks.
Twice a week, the training group met at Runner's Edge to get fitness tips and to run a route Brooker and his father Tim laid out.
Carrying water bottles and iPods, members of the running group could not be missed as they hoofed through downtown, traversing the city on the Kim Williams Trail, through Greenough Park, and the South Hills Trails System, returning like a flock of homing pigeons, one after the other, to Runner's Edge.
With each passing week, their commitment was obvious, and so too was the commitment of marathon organizers, said Missoula Mayor John Engen.
“When we saw for ourselves all those pieces coming together, we had the confidence these folks were going to pull off a pretty good event and we were happy to accommodate them,” Engen said.
“In the end, I had no idea what a big event it would be.”
Organizers hope Missoula will again turn out in force to cheer on the racers as they make their way to the finish line on Sunday, Straughan said.
Last year, thousands of spectators lined the marathon course from its start in Frenchtown, along its twists and turns in the Big Flat area, where it joined up with the Missoula Half Marathon Course near Maclay Bridge, and throughout Missoula's downtown neighborhoods.
Noisemakers blared, cowbells rang, and shouts of encouragement greeted runners at multiple points along the route.
Susan Beck was there, standing along the course on North Avenue, cheering and holding up homemade signs to keep her running friends motivated.
The thundering herd was such an incredible sight, Beck said at the time: “My adrenaline is going just watching.”
Because of the record-breaking heat wave last summer, the 2008 course has been rerouted through more of Missoula's tree-lined, shady neighborhoods.
Unlike last year, the finish will be on the Higgins Avenue Bridge.
“I think the event was so successful last year (that) everyone at the city level was really excited about it this year and was really flexible with changing the course,” Straughan said. “We've gotten such great support and cooperation. This year, all the downtown streets from the bridge to Main Street and east to Pattee Street will be closed to cars.
“We will have a ton of space to work with, and a lot of room for the crowds and the runners.”
Because marathons have now been around for a few decades, and training programs have gotten smarter, allowing people with all kinds of body types to complete the 26.2 miles, it's become popular for runners and their families to schedule vacations around race events.
It's a trend on which the Missoula Marathon Committee hopes to capitalize.
“The goal is to continue to improve our presentation,” Straughan said. “We want people to come to Missoula and have a feeling they are in a major-market marathon with local flavor, and most of all we want people who live here to be proud of what we produced and can achieve.”
One of the many things that makes the marathon uniquely Missoula isn't just the location, but the event's artistic flair.
Like last year, sculpted legs made from plaster and decorated by Missoula artists will serve as milemarkers along the marathon course.
Since last summer several of the leggy mile markers have been sold as part of a fundraising effort for the Missoula Marathon. So new mile markers were made and decorated by the likes of artists Dirk Lee, David Wilson, Karl Stein, Matt Thiel and others.
Having seen most of them, which are stored at his art gallery in downtown Missoula, Dudley Dana described the milemarkers as “fantastic.”
“I think it's a great idea,” he said, “I've heard from runners that they really like it because it makes them look forward to the next mile.”
There's going to be a hot time in town today
After last year's notoriously hot and record-breaking July heat, Missoula Marathon race organizers are keeping a close eye on weather forecasts.
If all goes according to National Weather Service predictions, race day will dawn quite a bit cooler than race day last year.
By July 1, 2007, thermometers around the region hit 92 degrees and ignited the start of a historic summer of heat. By July 6, Missoula hit a record high - 107 degrees - and in the days leading up to the July 15 marathon, midday temperatures were 102 and 103 degrees.
On race day, it was 65 degrees when runners set out at 6:30. a.m.
Worried about a repeat performance for this Sunday's race, the start was moved up by 30 minutes and is set for 6 a.m. When the University of Montana's ROTC cannon starts the marathon off with a bang, the temperature is predicted to be about 46 degrees and the daytime high is expected to be around 88 degrees.
“That's a 20-degree difference,” said Jennifer Straughan, race director. “That's huge.”
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