2025 RACE
New for 2025! Come join us for a big weekend of trail running on July 12th, 2025 with the 13th annual races on the great Herron Park trail system!
Registration opens January 1st, 2025!
These races are the first in the new Flathead Race Series! More details to come on the new structure for 2025. Other races in the series include the Whitefish Trail Blazer and Le Grizz races. There will be special awards for those that qualify for the Crown of the Continent Champion’s League!
PLEASE CARPOOL! Parking is limited!
Check out this cool interactive map from onX… but wait for a second for it to load
HERRON HALF MARATHON | 10K | 5K
Foy’s to Blacktail Trails Organization
The money raised from the races goes directly to building and maintaining trails in the 34-mile FTBT system. (see http://www.foystoblacktailtrails.org/ to learn more about FTBT’s mission). In addition to event fees, our trails thrive largely in part to our dedicated sponsors and individual donors. These races are our largest annual fundraisers. We’ve kept registration fees low over the last 12 years to keep the events affordable. Please consider adding a donation to your race fee!
The schedule is as follows:
Official start race times: 1/2 Marathon – 7:00 am; 10k – 7:15 am; 5k – 7:30 am; Kids’ race: 9:30 am; Awards ceremony: after kids’ race – around 10 am.
Bib pick up starts at 6:00 am and the pre race meetings will be 10 minutes before each race. Swag bags will be handed out AFTER you cross the finish line.
Registration
Prices are listed on the Registration Page
Please carry your own bottle in order to utilize water or HEED at aid stations. There will be NO CUPS
Race Bibs and Packets
Race bibs can be picked up starting at 6:00 a.m. on race day. Swag bags, including give away stuff from sponsors will be handed out to racers at the end as racers complete the race.
Kids’ Race
At 9:30 am, we will provide an informal kids’ race for those under the age of 13. There is no charge for this race. Bibs will be provided but there will be no official timing. We will recognize the top 3 racers of each gender. Kids will get stickers with the Herron Half Logo and perhaps some extra “swag” for completing the race.
Parking
Parking is available in the main Herron parking lot, with many helpers guiding you to your spot in order to optimize the space we have. Additional parking is available in the stable parking lot, past the main Herron lot on the right side. Please look for the bright color vests of volunteers assisting with parking. We are expecting the same large number of participants this year, which will fill all parking areas, so PLEASE CARPOOL!
Dogs
Herron Park is part of the Flathead County Parks & Recreation system, and please follow county rules regarding dogs: spectator dogs must be leashed and cleaned up after. Sorry, no dogs allowed in the races.
Walkers/Hikers
There has been a growing interest in walking/fast hiking these courses. The 5k is the best fit for walkers as it takes about 60-90 minutes to walk. However, for the 10k and Half Marathon courses, walkers’ and fast hikers’ finish time will likely extend beyond the noon clean up time for this event. If you are interested in walking/fast hiking the longer courses, please let the Race Director (brian@runflathead.com) know and we will make arrangements for an early start on the day of the event.
Volunteers
We can’t do it without all of the great volunteers! Please contact the Race Director (brian@runflathead.com) if you would be willing to help with any of the many tasks, such as staffing an aid station, directing cars toward parking options, helping with registration, giving out awards, marking the course ahead of time, directing racers at tricky intersections, or taking down the course afterwards. Go to Run Sign Up page under the drop down menu, “More” then “Volunteer” to see what areas still need helpers.
Awards Ceremony
We’ll make it quick, but we also want to give the overall and age group winners their time in the spotlight. In addition, we will give away lots of cool stuff donated by our sponsors by random drawing to race participants sticking around to the end of the awards ceremony. This will be held after the kids’ race.
Don't forget to support the sponsors who helped the race with monetary support and/or in-kind donations:
The Flathead Race Series!
We are working on the details with other race director of the Whitefish Trail Blazer and Le Grizz races, so stay tuned!
Race Results
Past Herron Half Marathon,10k and 5k races can be found at Competitive Timing.
ROUTES
Lodging options: We are working with the County Parks Department and local land owners for options near the race staging area, so stay tuned!
Cancellation/Wildfire Policy: Wildfires and smoke conditions vary over the course of the summer in Montana. Often, even when the Flathead area does not have active fires, smoke is blown in from the west causing poor air quality. Wildfire conditions are variable, unpredictable, and can change daily in northwest Montana. As we experienced in prior years, smoky conditions were persistent until race weekend where we experienced rain and clear skies. In the event of an active wildfire posing a safety threat to the Foy’s to Blacktail Trail Marathon (FTBTM) participants or volunteers, the race organizers reserve the right to cancel the event at any time. Please keep in mind that we work with multiple different land owners that will also be looking out for the health and safety of everyone in our event.
If the FTBTM is canceled due to a wildfire or other natural disaster, participants will have the options to (i) defer their registration at 50% value to the next year; or (ii) donate their registration to help cover operation costs.
As noted below, we will wait until race morning to determine cancellation, which means we incur the costs of operating the event (insurance, permits, etc) and compensating all of our local vendors, regardless of whether the race takes place or not. As organizers, we invest our lives into this event and want nothing more than a flawless weekend, so we thank you in advance for understanding and respecting this policy.
In the event of smoky conditions causing variable air-quality, FTBTM organizers reserve the right to make a final race cancellation decision by 6:00am on the race morning based on AirNow.gov for Kalispell, MT. The Specific Air Quality Index chart we will refer to can be viewed here.
The event will not be canceled for AQI 0 (green) to 100 (yellow).
AQI reaching between 101-150 (orange), runners will have the choice to (i) complete the event, (ii) defer their registration at 50% value to the next year, or (iii) donate their registration.
AQI reaching > 151 (Red, Purple, or Maroon), the event will be canceled and runners will have the choice to (i) defer their registration at 50% value to the next year, or (ii) donate their registration.
2024 RACE SPONSORS
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor for 2025, please contact info@foystoblacktailtrails.org or brian@runflathead.com.
Thank You Partners! Your volunteer and financial contributions make this trail system thrive.
Thank You Sponsors! Some of you have supported us for more than a decade!
FTBT would like to recognize the following sponsors for their financial & in-kind contributions in 2024:
Title Sponsor
Logan Health
Gold Level
Advanced Rehabilitation Services
Jordahl & Sliter PLLC
Hammer Nutrition
Right On Trek
Silver Level
Glacier Bank
Glacier Centre for Dentistry
Measure Law, P.C.
Montana Dental Works
Nomad GCS
YWAM - Endurance Adventures
Bronze Level
A7 Cycles
Bias Brewing
First Montana Bank
Sportsman and Ski Haus
Stockman Bank
Additional Support has also come from:
Natural Grocers
OnX Backcountry
REI Co-Op
Rocky Mountain Outfitter
Rocky Mountain Creative
