Runners from across the US and the world will come to Billings on June 1 for the annual Montana Marathon. One of the oldest races in the state, the Montana Marathon drew nearly 200 runners last year, with hundreds more participating in the half-marathon, 10K, and 5K.

While many of the runners are local or from Montana, the race attracts some of the fastest runners from states as far away as Florida, with international runners coming to Billings from Canada, Sweden, and Australia in 2024.

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Photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash
Photo by Miguel A Amutio on Unsplash
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Last year, the top overall times in the Montana Marathon were:

  1. Connor Turpin - Lewiston, ID 2:37:25.0
  2. Jonathan Handel - Billings, MT 2:40:30.1
  3. Ian Frain - Cleveland, OH 2:49:58.5
  4. Daniel Nystrom - Skelleftea, Sweden 2:53:02.4
  5. Jake Iverson - Billings, MT 2:55:09.9

The Montana Marathon is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.

Montana Marathon route. Credit Google/Map My Run
The Montana Marathon route is from Molt to Pioneer Park. Credit Google/Map My Run
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2025 marks the 45th anniversary of the Montana Marathon.

Managed by 406 Race Series, they describe the Montana Marathon as "Fast Course. Friendly People. Beautiful Landscape." The Montana Marathon starts in Molt and concludes at Pioneer Park. The course begins in the prairie and provides a slight elevation increase at the 5-mile mark, before dropping a total of 1,000 feet in town.

Livestrong.com shared that less than 1% of the US population has completed a marathon, with around 1.1 million active marathon runners in the world. To place among the top 10% of marathon runners in the U.S., you would need to finish faster than 3 hours, 31 minutes, and 46 seconds.

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