MISSOULA — On a chilly, rainy Sunday morning that felt more like October than June, runners' spirits remained undamped at the 2026 Missoula Marathon.
"I couldn't have asked for better weather; it kept me cool the whole time," said Owen Smith, who obliterated the men's half-marathon record when he crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 37.2 seconds.
"(The weather) was awesome. I was super excited to see it being cold," echoed Hannah Branch, who won the women's half-marathon with a time of 1:15:40.8.
Nate Wellington won the men's marathon in 2:32:47.1, and Katie Holman placed first in the women's marathon with a time of 2:46:06.5.
The gloomy weather resulted in a late-arriving crowd at the finish line, but Smith — the first to cross — was welcomed by an enthusiastic group of friends. Spectators gradually piled into the finish area and lined the Beartracks Bridge to encourage runners over their final steps of the races.
A Billings native and former Montana State University runner, the 23-year-old Smith ran the half-marathon for the first time.
"I was pretty intimidated by the distance. I haven't raced a half before," Smith said. "I knew I could do it, but I was glad this course — it felt, during the race, a little flatter than I was expecting, which was a relief."
Missoula's Luke Mest finished second in the men's half-marathon with a time of 1:06:12.3. James Settles of Claremont, Calif., was third (1:06:22.0), followed by Habtamu Cheney (1:07:43.8) of Provo, Utah, and Jake Smith (1:09:10.2) of Kyle, Texas, in fourth and fifth.
Cheney previously set the half-marathon record of 1:05:13 in 2024.
"I really wanted to send it from the start (Sunday) and kind of just have a war of attrition," said Smith, who noted his goal was to run a sub-63-minute time. "Those first couple of miles were pretty downhill, so I went out a little hotter than I expected, and then it was just about hanging on the last half."
The women's half-marathon was a closer race, but Branch, who also won the 2024 race, pulled away to win by more than a minute.
"I feel like this time I just expected more out of myself," said Branch, a 27-year-old from Orem, Utah. "I feel like I just knew the course a little bit more and kind of just knew where I wanted to go ... at certain points. Last time, I went into it pretty blind, so that knowledge really paid off (Sunday)."
Allie Schaich of Englewood, Colo., placed second in the women's half-marathon with a time of 1:17:04.3. Leah Taylor of Tallahassee, Fla., was third in 1:17:56.7, Stephanie Tondow of Oakland, Calif., placed fourth in 1:21:16.3, and Gabrielle Feber of Huntington Woods, Mich., finished in fifth in 1:22:35.3.
The men's marathon got a new winner for the first time since 2017. Mark Messmer had won the past six races (there were no races in 2020 or 2021), but his old college teammate broke the tape this year.
Messmer and Wellington overlapped at the University of Montana in 2014.
"I'm glad (Messmer) wasn't in this race because he would've smoked it," Wellington, 30, said with a laugh. "But it was fun to come across the line first."
Wellington, a California native who now calls Helena home, said he wasn't expecting to win and that he ran most of the first 10 miles or so with a big pack of runners before letting the top three separate. He settled into fourth position and ran by himself for about 10 miles, and then made his move over the final six miles of the race.
Mark Thompson of Edmond, Okla., finished second in 2:33:38.1. Missoula's Maxwell Scott (2:35:12.8) took third, followed by Billings' Robert Peterson (2:35:48.7) and Manhattan's Layne Ryerson (2:36:25.0) in fourth and fifth.
"I caught third (place) about Mile 20 and then caught second about Mile 22," Wellington said. "And then in the last two (miles), I got the first-place guy, so I kind of worked my way up."
Like Wellington, Holman didn't "plan" to win the women's marathon, either.
"I had a goal to run with the pack and try to let some other people break some wind for me, and then ended up running it all basically by myself, which was not the plan," she said. "But things felt really good, so I just kept pushing. I had no idea who was behind me at any point, which was kind of motivating because it let me not slow up and just kept pushing hard."
Following Holman across the finish line was Morgan Delaney, who will be a senior at Polson High School this fall, in 2:47:50.6. Hilary Heskett of Tucson, Ariz., was third with a time of 2:50:33.3, followed by Anna Sentner of Lakeland, Fla., in 2:51:28.1 and Kayla Ingraham of Gladstone, Ore., in 2:52:36.2.
Holman, 36, said she didn't really start running until her late 20s. She grew up in New York City but moved to Missoula eight years ago. The Missoula Marathon is now her home race.
"I've run the Missoula Marathon almost every year since I came here," Holman said. "I have two little boys, and the chance to see them at the finish felt so great. I love the community. The people running the half cheering you on the whole time is amazing, so I couldn't ask for a better race."
"This event is so cool," Wellington added. "And all the volunteers, it's incredible. It's so nice to have everyone out there and cheering you on. I feel a lot of gratitude to the Missoula community."
