For Missoula's Kiefer Hahn, winning the Missoula Marathon is becoming an annual event.
"It means a lot," Hahn said of his victory on Sunday. "I think that I'm really striving to try to represent Missoula. There's someone from every state here and I think it's important to have a hometown runner win it."
Hahn led the charge in the fourth edition of the event, posting a course record time of 2:30:37.
Despite finishing more than 10 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor and setting another course record, getting to the finish line was far from easy.
"The last three miles sucked," Hahn said.
Unlike last year, when Hahn hardly trained for the event and still set a record time of 2:33:17, the 37-year-old trained hard this year and made it his primary focus to finish the event in under 2:30:00.
"I did more speed work (this year)," Hahn said. "I tapered. ... And I lost a little bit of weight. As funny as it sounds, it makes a difference."
As the owner of Momentum Athletic Training in Missoula, Hahn has the time and the facility to train as much as he needs. However, even if chose not to race - as he did in 2008 - Hahn would volunteer and be involved in the marathon in some way, he said.
The record run by Hahn was only one of the exquisite performances put on by local runners on the day.
On a day when residents of all 50 states laced up, it was the hometown folk who took all the top spots.
Fellow Missoula native Trisha Miller took the top honor on the women's side of the full marathon with a time of 3:02:22.
"I feel I ran pretty strong," Miller said. "This was a (personal best) for me. I really wanted to go sub-three, but this is a tough, hilly course, and it's a hot course, but overall, I really tried to hang in there at the end."
Toward the end of the race, Miller felt as if she was running out of gas, but she pushed through the final miles using inspiration and encouragement from other runners and spectators, she said.
"I didn't start out in first place," Miller said. "I passed the first-place girl about mile 17, so once I passed her I knew that there was no turning back and I had to keep pushing if I wanted to win today."
She may have fell short of her goal by finishing in over three hours, but Miller is more than happy to get the win, she said.
Jimmy Grant and Meg Lerch each won the half marathon, making the day a clean sweep for runners from Missoula.
Grant ran the half in 1:11:09 and Lerch wasn't far behind with a time of 1:22:24.
Missoula produced three of the top 10 finishers in the men's full marathon, the women's full marathon and the women's half marathon. Only two Missoula men cracked the top 10 in the half marathon.
2010 Missoula Marathon
Men's top 10
1, Kiefer Hahn, 2:30:37; 2, Brian Nelson, 2:41:35; 3, Aaron Ladd, 2:45:52; 4, Kyle Strode, 2:47:00; 5, Daniel Deuhs, 2:48:33; 6, Kip Litton, 2:49:07; 7, Mike Telling, 2:50:43; 8, Ian Ballentyne, 2:51:35; 9, Jedediah Rogers, 2:52:01; 10, Gary Krugger, 2:52:25.
Women's top 10
1, Trisha Miller, 3:02:22; 2, Lisa Minnehan, 3:05:26; 3, Anya Wechsler, 3:14:39; 4, Katherine Aune, 3:15:00; 5, Debbie Gibson, 3:15:26, 6, Amy Morken, 3:17:42; 7, Lydia Coleman, 3:18:57; 8, Kristina Harp, 3:21:06; 9, Serena Lackey, 3:22:12; 10, Talva Parker, 3:23:55.
Men's half marathon
1, Jimmy Grant, 1:11:09; 2, Michael Fisher, 1:13:37; 3, Andrew Budiansky, 1:14:55; 4, Jacob Naegeli, 1:16:23; 5, Forrest Lumpry, 1:17:54; 6, Doug Neil, 1:17:56; 7, Brian Wieck, 1:19:09; 8, Todd Jones, 1:20:12; 9, Sean Linder, 1:21:10; 10, Jake Neil, 1:21:12.
Women's half marathon
1, Meg Lerch, 1:22:24; 2, Paige Gilchrist, 1:25:18; 3, Victoria Russell, 1:26:58; 4, Kesslee Payne, 1:28:07; 5, Jennie Olson 1:28:51; 6, Amy Shertzer 1:30:12; 7, Wanda Gau, 1:30:25; 8, Christine Knight, 1:30:49; 9, Shauna Carson, 1:30:50; 10, Mary Thane, 1:30:57.
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