Bitterroot Runoff Recap 2021
We had a beautiful morning at the Bitterroot Runoff Trail Runs this Saturday! Runners got to experience private singletrack outside of Lolo, followed by pancakes, Big Dipper Ice Cream, and Big Sky Beer after the race.
Typically, the Bitterroot Runoff is our first race of the year in mid April. This year, due to COVID concerns, we chose to push it to July.
Compared to last time we raced at this venue during the Hootenanny, the weather was the polar opposite. Instead of 33 degrees Fahrenheit and rain all day, the trails were dry and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Fortunately on race day, the temperature stayed relatively cool early in the day and it wasn’t too smokey.
Results
On the men’s side, we saw a father-son-duo Michael Curtis and Ian Curtis take the titles for the 5-mile and 10-mile, respectively. Ian, a former Hellgate High School cross country runner who now runs collegiately in Minnesota, had a battle on his hands with Mike Adams out of Ronan. On the climbs, Ian would build a gap from Adams, but on the descents, Adams would blow past Ian. This game continued until the final mile of the race, where Ian pulled away and came away with the win.
The women’s race saw Nicole Murray win the 10-mile for the second consecutive year. Nicole will be attempting the Bitterroot Runoff/Treadmill Challenge double this year, with only 2 days of separation between the two races. In the 5-mile, Leilani Contos came away with the title. Leilani has been cleaning up at our races, most recently winning the 10k at Mountain to Meadow.
Photos
You can find the photos from the race HERE. Thank you to our lovely photographer, Anastacia Wilde, for being out there crushing it on race morning.
Thank you to the volunteers to showed up and helped make this event possible. We had great volunteers helping out at packet pick up, manning 
the aid station, and handing out breakfast and ice cream after the race.
Huge thank you to all of our great sponsors for supporting this event. We had gels and electrolyte drinks from Hammer Nutrition keeping everyone fueled during the race, Joe from Big Sky Brewery handing out post-race refreshments, Evie from Sapphire Physical Therapy giving out post race massages, Big Dipper Ice Cream cooling everyone down afterwards, and Saucony supporting this event!
