KALISPELL — Runners from around the world are lacing up their shoes this weekend for the Missoula Marathon, and that includes some of the elite half-marathon runners from the Flathead Valley.
The Missoula Marathon is no stranger to runners traveling down from Flathead County.
One of those runners is former half-marathon winner Elizabeth Wasserman from Columbia Falls, who is returning this year after sitting out with an injury in 2024
Although it is a two-hour journey from her home to Missoula, the drive down is always worth it.
“We're so lucky, like truly, to have such a great race so close to home,” Wasserman said. “Oftentimes, I have to go to the coasts or big cities to find a race of this caliber. Missoula and the whole Montana (community) really comes around this race and supports the community, and you can feel that energy when you're running.”
Now that Wasserman is fully recovered, she has set a high bar for herself going into the weekend.
“I would like to win, (but) it's definitely not my primary goal,” Wasserman said. “I have a time goal in mind, and that's what I'm really chasing, and if that means winning, that's great, but if it doesn't mean winning, I'm OK with that, too.”
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Whether the goal is to win or set a new personal best, every runner’s reason for running the Last Best Race is unique.
For Glacier High School’s cross country coach, Cody Moore, he uses it to encourage his athletes to approach running in a new way.
“It changes their perspective on what's long and what's difficult and what's challenging because the 5K is just so much shorter,” Moore said. “I think it's really inspiring for a lot of our runners to go down there and to see, not just high school-age people racing, but people of all ages, all backgrounds down there running for a variety of reasons, and kind of to be part of the larger running community is really inspiring for them.”
For one of Moore’s top athletes at Glacier, Owen Thiel, he has fully embraced that mindset.
“I think it's a good way to make the training in the offseason fun and kind of add like a good checkpoint to see where you're at, how your fitness is doing,” Thiel said. “And it's just fun, running is fun.”
As for who is going to take home bragging rights at this year’s half-marathon, Thiel and Moore put it simply.
“I think if it was a mile, it would be no contest. I think Owen would have me, but a half-marathon I feel pretty confident. Maybe he'll prove me wrong,” Moore said.
“I think my coach has got me. He's been training for this, he's ready, he's ready to go. I'm gonna see if I can hang with him,” Thiel said.
The Missoula Marathon will take place Sunday, June 29.
