I had read about this marathon for a while and thought if I ever get to Missoula I would do it. Luckily my family and I were traveling through there and the timing was perfect. It is a good time of year so the weather was great and with the 6 am start time it helped to be done running before the heat of the day. As a long time runner of hundreds of races and close to 30 marathons this one certainly is well organized. The t-shirt and medal are great but not really much swag for out-of-staters since the virtual bag is mostly for people who live in Missoula. The incredible number of volunteers they seem to have really helps make the event run smoothly. From the early drop off for the buses and water stations and road crossing to the finish line there were many smiling people to help.
Getting out to the start and hour early was only a slight inconvenience and understandable as to the location. It has to be done at Boston so it was probably good practice for the runners trying to get their BQ. Plenty of bathrooms helped to avoid lines as well as items for people who missed breakfast.
Since it has been a few years since my last marathon I decided to join the 3:10 pace group. I had never run in a pace group before and these guys did a great job of pacing and talking about things for the first 15 miles of the race. I was able to enjoy the scenery and took time at all the aid stations since it was getting warmer out. A suggestion for the RD is to make sure the stations are all set up the same way. Either water first or powerade but don't switch it since runners are losing the ability to focus out there and can't have changes like that just pop up. Also make sure they know the concentration of water to mix since some stations it was very strong.
I took the time the day before to drive the course and glad I did since it becomes confusing during the second half and there are a number of turns in the neighborhoods that go in many directions and around rotaries. There were a few dead animals on the course during the race that were there the day before as well and it would have been nice when the crew was putting out the cones that morning that they moved the smelly animals.
In the end it is a nice finish across the bridge and with the crowds. It is difficult for traveling runners who may have family there to cheer since it is hard to get out on the course and back again in order to cheer. As for sharing the course with the 1/2 I know it technically makes sense to do this but runners do have to run around the walkers from the half which with all the turns over the last few miles was inconvenient. Certainly next year have the power aid available for the marathoners at the finish. Most runners don't want soda at the finish and it looked like the shared bins with the 1/2 finishers emptied all the sports drinks. It was great that they had photoghers on the course and at the finish so we could get official pictures which were well done.
Overall I was happy with the race experience and would like to come back and run it again when I am in better shape since it is good fast course.