The Montana Governor's Cup Marathon

This is my 21st state I have run a marathon in, and Montana did not disappoint. The pros: *A beautiful course with some great views; Montana is a fabulous part of the country to visit. *Much of the race was downhill (but certainly not all of it!) with a net loss in elevation of about 900 feet. *I was mailed my bib and t-shirt for a $5 fee. That was a great perk for me as someone traveling to this race. *Good organization at shuttle pickup, start/finish, and at water stations. *I love small races. If you do too, put this one on your list. Room for improvement: *Does the race have to start at 6:00 am? In order to get ready, eat, and get to the shuttle pickup by 4:15, I had to be up at 3:00 am! The shuttle arrived at the start line at 5:15. It was probably around 40 degrees. Standing in the cold for 45 minutes before start time doesn't help my muscles. *Speaking of starting line, there was not nearly enough porta-potties; I waited in line for 30 of those 45 minutes I was waiting for the race to begin. Other thoughts (neither positive nor negative): *Hills! Be ready for them. There was a long, slow incline starting between miles 3 and 4 that took the wind out of me and then some other smaller ones as you hit the late teens and early 20s. There was a really tough one around mile 23 or 24 they colorfully call 'Cardiac Hill.' It was tough and came at a time when I was already struggling. *All in all, I was very pleased with my time so the course has to be a fast one. With the altitude (starts at 5000 feet), the hills, and a bothersome knee, I was only ~2.5 minutes slower than my most recent race. *This race was canceled in 2020 which is when I had originally planned on running it. The communication through the cancellation and re-registering process was good and fair. This is the first race I have run since COVID hit that went back to paper cups of water instead of individual plastic bottles. I saw very few masks the entire day. It felt good to be getting back to normal.

There is about 1800 feet of descent and more than 900 feet of ascent, and most of the climb occurs in the last 10 miles, so this isn't an easy race. But it's beautiful and well-organized, and I'm very happy I ran it. This is a friendly, small race. Staying at the Doubletree made logistics very easy for someone without a rental car, but if you've got a car you could stay anywhere in Helena, which is an interesting capital city.

The course is stunning! 360 degrees of mountains surrounding the 26.2 miles. There are a few challenging hills, but they're worth the view. There were more volunteers on the course than there were runners ... and they were so friendly and helpful! I highly recommend this race for those who don't need a ton of spectator encouragement.