Katy White moved to Missoula a few years ago and has quickly established herself as a fixture in the Missoula running community. She can be seen running anything from the Missoula Marathon, to the Rut, to the upcoming Turkey Day 8k. Recently she lead the Missoula women to a big win at Montana Cup in Great Falls.
How long have you been running?
I’ve pretty much been running my whole life. Even as a little kid I would go with my neighbors to their middle school cross country meets and run all over the course even though I was in no way involved with the team. I started running competitively about ten years ago in high school when I sadly/luckily was the only person not to make the volleyball team and was forced to find a new fall sport. So I did cross country and track for the remainder of high school and continued on in college by being an active member of my schools club team. After graduating undergrad, the first thing I did each time I moved to a new place was to get plugged into the running scene as quickly as possible.
We’ve seen you run fast on roads, trails, and now cross country, what’s your preference?
I think I’m happiest with a little mix of everything. I love road running because you can go quicker and it’s fun to get the legs moving and into a rhythm. However, given where we live, I would be seriously missing out if I only stuck to the roads. I still haven’t quite mastered long climbs or steep, technical descents, but I love the variety and beauty that trails bring into my running. I also think mixing up the terrain is great for staying healthy and ensuring that all sorts of muscles are getting used regularly.
Now that you’ve found your stride in Missoula, what’s your favorite part of the running community?
I am really in love with the support and enthusiasm the entire community has for active, healthy lifestyles. Where I’m from in Indiana, my runs are done on busy streets with no sidewalks and to the soundtrack of drivers honking and yelling at me- not the most encouraging environment for fitness. In Missoula, regardless of the time of year or time of day, it is nearly guaranteed that I will cross paths with a handful of others out there and they are likely doing something even more extreme than I am. I think this breeds an incredibly motivating and encouraging environment regardless of your goals or physical endeavors.
You lead Missoula at Montana Cup. How did that race play out for you? Were you happy with it?
I was thrilled with the outcome! I had heard that Missoula has a pretty dominant Montana Cup history, but the last two years that I have done the race we left empty handed on the men’s and women’s side. My only goal going into it was to do my best to help the women’s team come out with a win. During the race I was able to look back and could see that we were packed up really well in the front, which gave me a lot of confidence and encouraged me to push the last couple of K’s. I have been doing a lot of running in the South Hills, which I think was good training because I was able to get in a lot of hills that are still very runnable, just like the race course!
What do you have in mind for 2019?
I just got confirmation that I got into the Chicago Marathon next fall, so I’m going to put a lot of effort getting ready for that and will hopefully come out with a big marathon PR! Throughout the next year I will be working on building up my mileage and incorporating a lot more speed and strength work into my running to help get ready for a solid Chicago buildup. I’m also definitely going to do a handful of other road and trail races like Snow Joke and the Bitterroot Runoff, maybe even one of the Rut races, because they are way too fun to miss out on!
