Repeat Winners for 2019 Missoula Marathon and Half Marathon

It was déjà vu all over again with the 2019 Missoula Marathon and Half Marathon, as last year’s men’s winner last year’s women’s half marathon repeated their success this year.

Race Director Tony Banovich supplied the details.

“In the full marathon we had Mark Messmer as the winner with a time of 2:24:01,” said Banovich. Messmer is a Missoula native and a Griz Alum and he won with a new personal best time. The women’s winner was Kayla Brown from Illinois. For the half marathon the men’s winner was Kenneth Kosgei from Oregon setting a new course record for the men, and the women’s winner with another course record we had Makena Morley  who was originally from Bigfork who is currently running for the University of Colorado, and she is I think a four time defending champion.”

Banovich said the weather was about as perfect as it could be for a running event.

“It was a great morning especially for the first four hours,” he said. “It was chilly and if you’re a little uncomfortable and a little chilly then it’s perfect to be running and that’s exactly where we were at today. Even here in the early afternoon it’s not too hot and the few remaining runners, walkers and rollers on the course will be finishing soon, as we officially close the course at 1:30 p.m.

Banovich said the planning for the 2020 Missoula marathon weekend will begin in earnest in the next few days, after all the cleanup from the weekend’s events.

The Missoula Marathon has won numerous national awards as one of the top events in the country, and 2019 will be no exception.

With nearly 2,500 runners with their families and friends, the estimate from Destination Missoula on the economic impact for the area was right around $2.5 million.