Welcome to Missoula’s most spectator friendly race! We have handpicked 12 of Montana’s best runners (6 Men & 6 Women) to duke it out treadmill style in front of a live audience for the title of King and Queen of the Treadmill!
This year we will be bringing the Treadmill Challenge BACK inside of Runner’s Edge. We’ll have a prediction contest, Big Sky Brewing beer, music and live announcing – all for a great cause, with 100% of the proceeds will go to Missoula Youth Homes.
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.
2023 Athlete List
The Men
Peanut Rosales – The 2019 Treadmill Challenge People’s Champion returns! Last time Peanut ran the Treadmill Challenge, he refused to slow down his treadmill after going out too hot. After flying off the back of the treadmill, referees forced him to turn down the speed. Peanut is a PhD candidate at the University of Montana originally from Illinois. We can’t wait to see what he does this year.
Kris Brown – 2021 Treadmill Challenge finalist Kris Brown runs for HOKA ONE ONE. Although he specializes in races up to 100 miles he most notably finished 3rd in HOKA’s 2021 Carbon X2 100k in 6hours and 39 minutes, averaging a pace of 6:20/mile For 62 miles. Can he average such a pace for 10 minutes on the mill?
Jason Delaney – Jason ‘Ebenezer’ Delaney may be the oldest man in our field, but he still holds one of the fastest ascents up Pikes Peak, running 2 hours and 13 minutes in the 1965 Pike’s Peak Ascent. After nearly defeating Peterman in a skimo race two weeks ago, Delaney is hungry for more.
Finneas Colescott – Hellgate senior Finneas Colescott joins us for his Treadmill Challenge debut this year. Finneas is coming off of a 9:36 3200 meter at the Simplot Games two weeks ago and a PR of 15:32 in the 5k. Finneas has committed to run collegiately for Columbia next year.
Nick Cornell – New to Missoula from Whitefish, Nick spent most of his life hiking the Appalachian Trail. When he finished the hike, he ran a mile as fast as he could and broke the tape in 4 minutes and 30 seconds! As the dark horse of our field, we are looking forward to seeing what Nick can accomplish for 10 minutes on the mill.
Max Scott – Originally from Portland, Oregon, Max is a junior on the University of Montana Track and Cross Country teams. With PRs of 8:22 in the 3k and 14:23 in the 5k, Max is currently the fastest runner in our men’s field. He is also an expert in the field of hair bleaching.
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.