Welcome to Missoula’s longest running trail race! With 2,000 feet of elevation gain in only 1.5 miles, this course is short, steep, and ends on the proud summit of Mount Sentinel.  After the race, enjoy Big Dipper Ice Cream at the M-Trailhead amphitheater.

Can’t make it to the climb?
Catch the LIVE STREAM brought to you by Zillastate – drone footage + start/M/finish cams!

 Stream goes live at 6PM on May 29th!
Watch Live

This event will be limited to 250 runners.

There will be no refunds, deferrals, or bib transfers.

Runners Receive:

• Big Dipper Ice Cream

• Chip timing from Competitive Timing

• Hammer Nutrition products at the finish

Awards

• $100 cash to the first place male and female. To be eligible for the overall win and cash prizes, you must start in the elite wave.  Our top 3 men and women will be based on gun time, not chip time.  

• $50 premium to the first male and female to the ‘M’ (must finish race to be eligible).

• Age group winners will win a gift card to Big Dipper Ice Cream.

• Age groups: 0-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70+

Schedule

Tenative Schedule

• 5:00PM: Packet Pick Up at M Trailhead 

• 5:45PM: Kids Run Start

• 6:00PM: Elite Start*

• 6:02PM: Wave 1 Start

• 6:04PM: Wave 2 Start

• 6:06PM: Wave 3 Start 

• 7:30PM: Awards Ceremony at the base area

Location:

The Sentinel Hill Climb starts at the base of Mount Sentinel in the ‘M’ Parking Lot on the University of Montana Campus.

Parking

• Parking is available in the ‘M’ Trail Parking Lot and is limited.  Surrounding lots require a University parking pass. Please carpool if you can.

The Kids ‘M’ Trail Climb (Free!)

Starting 15 minutes before the Sentinel Hill Climb, the Kids Run goes from the base area to the M (0.6 miles with 600 feet of climbing).  After finishing their run at the M, kids will stick around and cheer on the Sentinel Hill Climbers as they make their way up the mountain.  Once all the runners have passed by, the kid’s racers will make their way to the base area and celebrate with Big Dipper Ice Cream.

We’ll have a group of folks from Big Dipper Running making sure the kids go the correct way and know when to head down.

Course

This demanding course gains 1,970 feet in only 1.6 miles, beginning from the ‘M’ trail parking lot and finishing on the proud summit of Mount Sentinel. The first 1/3 of the climb follows the ‘M’ trail while the remainder follows the Northwest ridge trail to the summit.

Volunteers

We are always looking for volunteers to help out at our races! Whether it is with parking, packet pick up, or working an aid station, there are a wide variety of roles which you can be a part of.  Thank you for taking the time to make our events possible–we are forever grateful to our volunteers!

Sign up to volunteer here.

Volunteers will receive:

• $15 Runner’s Edge gift card
• Post race Big Dipper ice cream