Sentinel Hill Climb - The Runners Edge

Sentinel Hill Climb | 6:00pm Start | May 1st, 2019

Welcome to one of Missoula’s most iconic and long running trail races. With just shy of 2,000 ft of climbing in a little over 1.5 miles, the Sentinel Hill Climb is a monster of a course, and we are excited to offer it to you in the summer this year! Please come join us to run, walk, hike or crawl your way up Missoula’s favorite mountain.

New for 2019! The Sentinel Hill Climb is now an evening event! Join us for this mid-week quad thrasher and keep your weekend open to play in the mountains. This will still be the same great event, including Big Dipper ice cream awaiting your arrival at the finish line!

New for 2019!

The Sentinel Hill Climb is going cupless! Last year Runner’s Edge Events used over 20,000 cups. In order to cut down on waste we are moving all of our races to cupless events.

What this means for you– Please plan on carrying a bottle, bladder, or collapsible cup for use at the aid stations. If you would like to take advantage of the water, coffee, recovery drinks, or any other fluids we may have in the start/finish area, please plan on bringing a personal cup to use.

Thank you for helping us reduce waste at our events!

Registration:

Early Registration: $20 (2/26 – 3/31)
Late Registration: $25 (4/1 – 4/30)
Race Day Registration: $30 (5/1)
Kids Fun Run to the “M”: $5

Schedule:

Tuesday:

4-6pm Packet Pickup in the basement of Runner’s Edge
6pm 100 mile record holder and Altra athlete Zach Bitter presentation in Runner’s Edge basement

Wednesday (Race Day):

4:45-5:45pm – Race day registration and Packet Pick Up
5:40 – Kid’s Fun Run to the “M”
6:00pm – Sentinel Hill Climb start
7:30pm’ish – Awards ceremony back in the ‘M’ trail parking lot following the race

Runners Receive:

A great race on Missoula’s most iconic peak!
Chip timing
2019 edition Sentinel Hill Climb Mug (to be filled with Big Dipper Ice Cream!)
Goodies to snack on at the finish!
$100 cold hard cash to King and Queen of the Hill Climb!
$50 cash incentive to first male and female to reach the “M” on their way to the top of Sentinel!
Awards for top 3 overall and age group winners.

This event is a part of the 2019 RE Trail Race Series.

Packet Pickup:

You can pick up your race bib on Tuesday, April 30th at the Runner’s Edge from 4-6pm. Packet pickup will also be available on race day at the startline from 4:45-5:45pm.

Course:

This beautiful course goes up up up from the start at the ‘M’ trail parking lot and finishes on the proud summit of Mount Sentinel. The first 1/3 of the climb follows the ‘M’ trail while the remainder follows the Northwest ridge trail to the summit.

Sentinel Hill Climb: 1.6 miles. 1970 Feet of Elevation Gain
Kid’s Fun Run: 0.7 miles. Appx 750 Feet of Elevation Gain

Location:

The Sentinel Hill Climb starts at the base of Mount Sentinel in the ‘M’ Parking Lot on the University of Montana Campus

Results:

Parking:

Parking is available in the ‘M’ Trail Parking Lot. Surrounding lots require a University parking pass.

Friends of the ‘M’ Trail:

The Sentinel Hill Climb is conducted solely on U of M land. If you would like to support UM’s efforts to work with the broader Missoula community in providing stewardship and maintenance of Mt Sentinel’s much-loved and much-used trails, please consider making a donation in any amount to the Friends of the M Trail. Your donation is entirely tax deductible.

Learn more about The Friends of the M Trail and opportunities to help HERE.

The Kids 1/2 Climb

We will offer a kids fun run to the “M” for ages 5-12. This will start 20 minutes before the Sentinel Hill Climb. Kids will run with volunteers from the Big Dipper Running Team (who also put on the Little Dipper Trail Runs for kids). At the “M” we will give kids cowbells to cheer on racers in the Sentinel Hill Climb. We do ask that kids remain at the “M” until the last Sentinel Hill Climber comes through to avoid trail conflict. They are then welcome to head back down the trail and enjoy a bowl of Big Dipper Ice Cream!