This was my seventh 13.1 overall and the final race that qualified me for Half Fanatics.

The expo was quite small, but they were well organized with handing out the bibs and shirts. Hubby (who ran the full) and I stayed at the host hotel and Jeff Galloway just so happened to be speaking that afternoon. We were so lucky to have made it in time to catch part of it. An amazing man to say the least, and we felt fortunate to be able to run a few drills under his direction.

Race day, we woke up at 3:30 for a 6 a.m. start time… we had to navigate shuttle buses after all as the race was a point-to-point. Logistics were easy… we walked across the bridge right behind the hotel and there were the shuttle buses hauling people to the start line.

Once at the start line, it was portaloo heaven! Potties were everywhere. No one had to suffer or stress. Kudos to the race director! As well, they had fireworks going off about every 6 to 7 minutes. Honestly, that was a little unnerving and unnecessary, but it was definitely entertaining.

The course was gorgeous. Farms, trees, rivers, historic neighborhoods, and basically flat. Loved every minute of it. I ran out of air at about mile 9 or 10, but that’s what happens when you train at sea level and travel to a place that has any kind of elevation.

The people and volunteers were so very nice, so friendly, so helpful. I didn’t run into one single person who wasn’t encouraging and uplifting throughout the race. I wasn’t too impressed at mile 11 when people were saying, “you’re almost there” (because I wasn’t anywhere near the finish line), but that was my emotional breakdown, not theirs, so I really appreciated their support regardless of my state of mind.

The finish line also was fabulous. For recovery food, they had a lovely quinoa salad, bananas, oranges, watermelon, frozen fruit bars, nuts, bagels, fig newtons… a great spread! At the family meetup area, all racers got a free beer and a free finisher picture, and they were selling fry bread and other things, just in case the food at the finish line didn’t quite get it done for you.

This was a fabulous race and a fabulous time, and I felt it was very well organized. Thankfully we didn’t run into even one snafu, and that’s always bonus. This race is at the very top of my favorite's list, so I highly recommend it if you’re looking to run in Montana!!