Marathon discussed at park board meeting

A new marathon is coming to north-central Montana.

At the Hill County Park Board meeting Monday, Havre Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jody Olson told the board about a planned marathon set for 2020.

Olson said Montana State University-Northern Chief of Staff Rachel Dean proposed hosting a full marathon of 25.2 miles in 2020 to the Chamber. She added that Dean wrote a grant application to the state Department of Commerce’s Tourism Department, which awarded the Chamber $12,700 for the event.

She said the event also found a main sponsor for the event, Enell Sports Bras — founded by Renelle Braaten, who also sits on the park board.

Dean said that they have been working on selecting the route of the marathon and additional activities that they would want for the event, but a lot of planning remains.

“Whatever you need from us, I would love to know,” she said.

The marathon would be on June 6, the same weekend as Living History, and start on the border of the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and Beaver Creek Park, which has agreed to support the event and wrote a letter of support for the grant application.

Dean said that they are planning to have a full marathon, a half-marathon and an in-town 5K run. She added that they are doing a lot of planning because it is the first year the area has had an event like this.

She said that by having the marathon during the Living History weekend it may draw more people from in and out of the area to participate.

“That’s a great weekend in town to showcase who we are, who we’ve been,” she said.

She said that she is excited to bring new people to the historical sites in Havre.

“I think it’s going to be a really excellent opportunity to bring outside interest to our little part of the world,” she said.

The Havre marathon will have something that no other marathon in the area has, and that is a historical flair, she said.

The marathon will end at Northern, where an after-party with food, bands and awards will be held, she said.

“It’s going to be awesome,” she added.

Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chad Edgar said that it will be a good time of year for the park for the event because of the low traffic that weekend.

Dean said the marathon needs to close off at least one lane of the road in Beaver Creek Park for the marathon, but should only need to be closed for two to three hours. She added that because of safety reasons at least one lane will need to open for emergency response vehicles.

She said they have also already talked with the state about the safety precautions they will need to take for the event as well as already set money aside for the insurance for the event.

She said she hopes the event can also increase visitors to the park, but is unaware at this time what facilities, if any, will be needed for the actual event. Dean said she is expecting more than 250 people to participate in the marathon and wants the park to be open for them to fish, camp and do other recreational activities.

“Honestly, we’re behind the times. Helena has been doing a marathon for 40 years,” she said.

Olson said that she has already heard from a number of people that the marathon is a good idea.

The board put the marathon on the agenda for next month so they can continue to discuss it.

Dean said continuing to discuss the marathon is a good idea.

“If you’re asking it we probably need to be asking it too. The more questions the better at this point,” Dean said.

Olson also requested for the Park Board’s blessing for next year’s ice fishing tournament, which will be either Jan. 25 or Jan. 26. The tournament will be either at Beaver Creek Reservoir, also known as first lake, or at Fresno Reservoir depending on the weather.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean said that the Grazing Committee Ordinance passed its second reading May 30 and people in the community have 30 days to request a copy of the document and read it before the ordinance goes into effect June 29.

The Park Board also discussed the possibility of the park awarding grants.

“We agreed it’s something we are capable of pulling off,” Edgar said.

He said the Park Board will be leveraging its money and would need direction on writing up the applications. He added that this way, people and the board will know what people can apply for in the grant, what their project is, what is it going to cost and what is needed from the park.

Edgar said that the board planned on bringing the issue to the finance committee, but was unable to meet in time to discuss the matter before the Park Board meeting. He added that the board put $20,000 away in the capital improvement fund for the grant.

The item was tabled and so the finance committee can discuss the matter further.