Charity:

• All donations from the event will go to Youth Homes, a Missoula-based organization which provides services and shelters for children facing abuse, neglect, emotional trauma and substance abuse problems in Western Montana.  For more information, click here.

Beer:

• Big Sky Brewing has generously donated beer for the event.

How does this race work?

• The Treadmill Challenge will test who can run the farthest distance in 10 minutes on a treadmill set to a 12% grade.
• There will be 6 men, 6 women, and 3 treadmills, with two prelims and one final for each gender.
• Each heat will have three competitors.  Whoever goes the farthest in 10 minutes will win the prelim.  The winner of each prelim plus the holder of the next farthest distance will advance to the final.
• The three athletes lucky (or unlucky) enough to make the final get to do it all over again.  Winners will be crowned King & Queen of the Mill!

Schedule of Events:

• 7:00pm – Men’s Prelim Heat #1
• 7:15pm – Men’s Prelim Heat #2
• 7:30pm – Women’s Prelim Heat #1
• 7:45pm – Women’s Prelim Heat #2
• 8:00pm – Men’s Final Heat
• 8:15pm – Women’s Final Heat
• 8:30pm – Crowning of the King and Queen of the Treadmill and announcement of the prediction contest winner

Prediction Contest:

We will have a bracket-style prediction contest the night of the event for spectators to join in on the fun. The brackets must be filled out before 7:00pm when the races start! Brackets are $5 each.

Treadmill Challenge Bracket 2023

The Women

Erin Clark – An 11x All American at the University of Colorado, Erin has converted to trail ultra marathoning in the past 3 years.  After a knee injury last spring that forced her to run solely uphill, Erin is considering transitioning to treadmill-only style competitions.  Now a Nike sponsored trail athlete, Erin will be making her debut in what looks to be a historically strong women’s field.  

Jenn Lichter – New to Missoula, Jenn has been crushing the trail world the past two years.  With wins at both the Rut 50k and Broken Arrow 50k, and a fall spent collecting water from every glacier in Glacier National Park, Jenn can’t wait to only run for 10 minutes on the Treadmill.  

Nicole Murray – Nicole is an absolute machine at the Treadmill Challenge.  Defeated only once at the Treadmill Challenge in 2021, Nicole has won every other time that she’s competed. She was also a 2x US Olympic Marathon trials qualifier, a US National Champion in Mountain Running, and a 2x member of the US National Team for Mountain Running. 

Rose Wiltse – She may be the youngest runner in our field, but she is a force to be reckoned with running uphill.  This past year at Hellgate, she led her team the entire season to a state title for Girl’s Cross Country.  Rose holds PRs of 5:18 in the 1600 and 11:53 in the 3200. 

Malia Bradford – Sentinel senior Malia Bradford is a new convert to the Treadmill Challenge.  Fresh off a 3rd place finish at the Montana State High School Cross Country championships in 2022, Malia has committed to run for MSU this fall.   She has run 11:34 for 3200 meters.  

Erin Forde – You may know Erin as a friendly, bubbly face at the Runner’s Edge. But watch out, she’s a fierce competitor. Although she is more of a road marathoner these days, Erin has been a finalist at the Treadmill Challenge in years past.  She previously ran at Iowa State University as a middle distance runner, and now coaches at Hellgate High School.  Erin is also a great friend to have, as she laughs at all jokes, no matter how terrible.