MISSOULA – The Missoula Marathon runs in just a few days, and each year you’ll find all ages in the race. One family has five participants that span over three different generations.
“I really like the training and the comraderie of the group. I just got kind of got hooked on it,” said Myrtle Miller, who started walking the half-marathon in 2011.
Now at the age of 85, Miller is doing her eighth walk with some support from her family. Three generations of the Miller family will be running or walking the 13.1 miles with Myrtle. Her son and grandson will run it while her daughter and granddaughter walk alongside her.
Her daughter is a doctor in Billings and Myrtle was shocked but excited to find out she would be next to her at the finish line on Sunday.
“Last year when she saw the pictures of me coming in, she said, ‘Mom, I want to do it with you next year.’ I thought, ‘Honey, you’re a doctor. You don’t have time to train,'” Myrtle Miller said.
Myrtle says, while it’s only walking, there’s a lot of preparation that goes into the race. She begins training at the end of March for three and a half months leading up to the race on Sunday. While Miller has finished each year, she says it always gets a little harder.
“When I walked the first marathon, it was 3:21, and each year it’s gotten a little longer, just trying to do it under four,” Miller said.
For the future, Miller doesn’t know how long she’ll be able to do this, but she surely won’t limit herself.
