After my marathon in Fargo, ND I stayed in the Great Plains!
I spent the week driving from Fargo to Helena, so I was able to hit up several cities in between!
The cities or landmarks in between were Bismarck, Jamestown, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Billings, and Butte
There were 5 race options Saturday morning
5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon-relay, and marathon
The weather was a bit cold at first, but it was comfortable to run in!
We started in Jefferson City, and it seems deserted at first, but a few of the locals came out to watch us run!
Miles 0-3 were really the only downhill portions of the run
Miles 3-7 were the out-and-back portions of the course. Miles 3-5.5 had the elevation portion, then the downhill portion from 5.5-7
Miles 7-17 were along the service road next to the highway, so we didn't have much traffic to deal with
Miles 7-14 were technically downhill, but it didn't feel like it since it felt flat
Around mile 10 I saw a black bear! I saw something big and black run into the woods and across the river!
The rolling hills were between miles 14.5-21
It was annoying and hard to transition between walking uphill and running downhill during this time
We ran into the city, where we finally had a decent number of spectators. We ran into the runners doing the 5K/10K course, so we clashed a bit. The last portion of the race was through the walking mall then we finished at the library
I ran this marathon because it was its 50th anniversary race! I'm glad I was able to knock out both North Dakota and Montana within the same week!
I didn't have any major complaints during the run since the volunteers were nice, the course was well marked, and police officers made sure that the cars didn't hit us, etc
However, my biggest disappointment was that I felt like there weren't many food options post-race. There were snacks in the marathon tent, but I wish we had real food! There were food trucks, but you needed to pay.
Race Website: Governor's Cup Marathon
Some pictures around Helena!
Some motivational signs!
Some pre and post-race pictures!