I loved Montana so I imagine this will be a longer post. Partially due to the race itself, partially due to the city, and partially because my son came along for the run.

The trip started off challenging. Our first flight was delayed, quite literally so the flight crew could get extra sleep. Then after we loaded, it was delayed further for maintenance needs. We landed in Dallas with a few mins to spare, only to have our gate closed due to traffic. Hence, we missed our connecting flight. American was kind enough to rebook me on a flight 7 hours later…to Chicago. Last time I checked, that was in Illinois, not Montana. So instead I opted to get on the standby list for the last flight to Montana that day, which was 9 hours later. I enjoy the people watching and got to see a dog wearing a diaper in the airport. Also, had a margarita, cause, why not. Luckily, we got seats on standby and made it to Montana late that evening. Unfortunately, we missed the baseball game we had tickets for.

We woke up Saturday and went to packet pickup. It was a short walk from the hotel. It was held in a park right by a farmers market next to the river. The beauty of the area is stunning.

After exploring the market, we headed to Scheel’s, a sports superstore. Bond was in heaven. We spent a couple hours there looking at baseball gear. I’m starting to know everything there is to know about bats, gloves, etc. From there we headed to have lunch at a bbq restaurant (The Notorious P.I.G.) and then did some more exploring.

The hotel we were staying at had partnered with DryBar to do free hair braiding for the race so I did that as well. Nice!

We stumbled upon an adult softball game that Bond wanted to check out. As we were walking towards the field, I saw the left fielder put down her beer can and also noticed she was wearing a grass hula skirt. This definitely needed to be investigated. As we approached a man came up to say hi and informed us they had been playing and drinking since 8am (it was 5:30pm). Looked like a ton of fun.

From there we walked to the Missoula PaddleHeads baseball game. We were able to exchange our tickets from the night before. It’s an independent league with teams from states in the northwest. We had a great time, and Bond was also given a game used ball from one of the employees.

We took an Uber home from the baseball game to save our legs. We shared our Uber with a dog…that was a first.

On Sunday we woke up at 4am. Ugh. We had to leave by 4:30am to catch the bus to the starting line. We walked about a mile to the buses and I was very pleased that they had more than enough room for everyone (looking at you Rhode Island). Once we arrived we used the port o potties and ate a little breakfast (not to worry, not at the same time).

Looking around we were surrounded by adults. I wondered if Bond would be worried or intimidated but he didn’t seem to care. Honestly, I was probably more worried than him. Running a half marathon had been his idea, but I didn’t want him to get hurt, not finish, or end up hating it half way through. At that point, the hay was in the barn so to speak, but I remembered something that Bond’s kindergarten teacher had told me. Kids can do way more than we give them credit for. At the time I had used the advice to start teaching him to cook and do his laundry, but it comforted me now as well.

Our race plan was just to finish, and to do it together. I put no pressure on him regarding time or pace. It was a beautiful location and the course was flat, so a good race for a first timer. Dozens of runners and spectators commented when they saw Bond, asking him how old he was, and saying how impressed they were to see him running. I truly think he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I checked later and he was the third youngest person there.

I can not begin to express how proud I was of him as we crossed the finish line. Running 13.1 miles is never easy, and he certainly had moments of struggle, but he never complained, and he never quit. It was also an incredible joy to share something I love with someone I love.

After the race we got breakfast and headed back to the hotel. We ate food and then went up to our room where he promptly fell asleep.

He got to nap for a bit before I had to wake him up for our ride to Alberton, MT to do whitewater rafting on the Clark Fork River.

We got picked up by a guide and drove 45 mins to the site. We got in our wetsuits and life jackets and headed to the river. Bond and I volunteered to get sit on the front in the splash zone.

The views were absolutely stunning, and it was exhilarating going through the rapids. We did, in fact, get soaked.

But, so did everyone else because it rained almost the whole time. I will admit, after a couple hours we both were a bit hangry and tired. The trip was supposed to take 3 hours and instead took 6 and I’m dumb and didn’t bring snacks.

When we arrived back at the hotel we showered and then headed to dinner at the Tamarack Brewing Company. Bond wanted pizza and I wanted…well, anything. After we were done we headed back to the hotel, hopefully for the night, until he asked me to go to the park and play baseball with him. It was really the last thing I wanted to do as I was exhausted, but I recalled how I felt that morning when he ran the half with me, so I got my tired, old ass up…and we went to the park to play catch. The sun had come out and it was a beautiful evening. We ended it with icecream at Big Dipper, where I tried huckleberry for the first time. It was like a combination between a blueberry and a raspberry.

We got to sleep in the next morning, which was lovely, and then went to breakfast before heading out to play catch again. He can’t get enough of baseball. We played for an hour and then we went and did something I love, and got a diet Dr Pepper 🤣. We finished the morning with a trip to a local running store and then headed to the airport.

Overall, it was one of my favorite racecations to date. The location- stunning. The race- friendly. The company- fantastic. Even if racing isn’t your thing, I would recommend Missoula as an amazing place to visit.

What’s next? I don’t have another new state planned until November, which will be New Jersey, but in the meantime, I will be training for the Chicago Marathon in October.