The 4th Annual Madison Marathon will be held on Sunday, July 24, 2011. It will also offer full, half, and team marathon races. The goal for runner participation for the 4th annual race is at least 150 runners, but it is feasible that we may cap out at 200 runners. The five-year goal for the event has always been to cap out (fill to the allowed capacity of runners) at 200 runners and become a well known regional event. The 10-year goal is to become a premiere international running event for professional and serious amateur marathoners around the world. They will have to run the Madison Marathon because they will need a high altitude, competitive race to prepare for the five major marathons in the world (New York, London, Berlin, Boston, and Chicago) as well as the Olympic Games. We might reach our five year goal this one year early and who knows how quickly we'll reach our 10-year goal. We will always be charging forward.

From its inception, the MCEDC wanted to develop an annual tourism event that took the best advantage possible of a local asset within Madison County. The local asset was a good quality public road that was mostly above 9,000 feet in elevation. The demand for a unique, high-altitude foot race was apparent considering the enormous popularity of running and extreme sports in Southwest Montana and in reality in much of the United States. The conventional wisdom was that the local market of runners would ensure that the event would become a success early on simply by meeting existing demand. For example, the Ed Anaker Bridger Ridge Run in Bozeman caps out at 275 runners usually within 10 minutes of opening its online registration on active.com. Like the Bridger Ridge Run, word-of-mouth marketing from the Madison Marathon's initial runners will put the event on the map. Adding to word-of-mouth and social media marketing, the high elevation aspect of the race will ensure that the Madison Marathon will become a well known regional, national, and international event for marathoners within a few years. We are well on our way to achieving this goal.

The MCEDC organized the entire event on its own in 2008. Moonlight Basin, a ski, golf, and property company with its headquarters in Ennis and operations in Big Sky, joined as an event partner in 2009 and 2010. It offered much needed marketing support, logistics planning, and transportation support for runners to get from Ennis to the Gravelly Range and to get the runners from the staging area at Clover Meadows to the starting line near Black Butte Mountain. A host of volunteers manned the food and water stations and helped with other logistics. The event gained tremendous participation and support from the Madison County community.

For the 3rd Annual Madison Marathon held on July 25, 2010, the MCEDC brought onboard two additional partners. First, West Yellowstone Economic Development (WYED) joined as a major sponsor for the first time. WYED and the MCEDC already cooperate on a number of projects and co-sponsoring the Madison Marathon is a means for even more and better cooperation between these two economic development groups. Second, Wild West Photos, an outdoor and adventure stock photography company based in Bozeman, joined the team as a sponsor. Among other services, Wild West Photos took high quality photos of the race and they built this website which won a Gold Medal at the 2010 Addy Awards.

Ideally, all four partners (MCEDC, WYED, Moonlight Basin, and Wild West Photos) will work together to host the 4th Annual Madison Marathon on July 24, 2011. This plan is coming together.

Any and all runners who are interested in the upcoming 4th annual race should download the Runners' Information Packet (click here). This document will give you all the details on the race as well as information on how to get there, camping options, lodging options in Ennis, and other details. Finally, you can always contact the race director, Sam Korsmoe, directly at 406-682-5923.

Thanks for cruising through the Madison Marathon website. We hope to see you
on July 24th.

Stay healthy, stay happy, and keep running forward.


Top I Home I Register


This institution operates under a special use permit from the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.