Racers and volunteers celebrate the 40th Bridger Ridge Run

“It was a super fun start line this year; it was the kind of thing where I was like, ‘I’m going to race these guys as hard as I can’, but when the race is over it’ll be like, ‘that was fun,’ and I won’t be upset if someone else beat me. I’m just excited to see everyone finish,” Marshall said.

Between familiar faces on the trail, friends at the aid stations and friendly strangers, Marshall said the community backing the race makes the BRR special.

As he climbed, traversed and descended the narrow, technical course, Marshall’s carefully curated playlist blasted in his ears. This year Marshall’s playlist was three hours long, the approximate duration of Mike Wolfe’s 2012 record-setting race. Wolfe’s official course-record time was 3:00:24.

“The last two songs were spiritual songs that I knew I was going to go down Baldy listening to,” Marshall said.

As the playlist closed with Florence + the Machine’s “Never Let Me Go” , Marshall descended towards the “M” in silence. He said he was careful to stay focused on the task at hand.

“It’s a really great feeling to lead a race and have so many people cheering and supporting me, but it can make you a little loopy and happy, and you can start to slow down,” Marshall said.

Without music to distract him, Marshall said he kept imagining someone behind him, closing the gap.

The next finisher, Joshua Harrington, finished four-and-a-half minutes after Marshall.

Twenty minutes and four finishers later, Anna Dalton, a first-time BRR participant, crossed the finish line as the first-place female. She posted a time of three hours, 50 minutes, and 24 seconds.

Splitting her time between Anchorage, Alaska, and Bozeman, she said her training consisted of a mix of road and trail intervals focused on climbing and descending.

“It’s such a Bozeman epic,” Dalton said. “Having now run it, the race records on this course are even more impressive.”

Kristina Trygstad-Saari — the second female to complete this year’s BRR — set the female course record for the BRR in 2023 with a time of 3:37:00.

It's organized as a race, but for many, running the BRR isn’t about setting course records or securing a spot on the podium.

“The community here is the strongest community of any race I’ve ever done,” said Amanda Coble, a third-time BRR racer who dropped out of the race after the initial climb up Sacajawea Peak. She started the morning with a migraine, and by the time she completed the first climb, she said her intuition told her to stop.

“But everybody’s cheering each other on, everybody’s there to support, everybody’s checking in with each other,” Coble said.

Beyond the racers, volunteers with the Big Sky Wind Drinkers keep the BRR community thriving. This year, about 255 volunteers made the race possible for the registered 250 racers, according to Boz Boswell, co-director of the BRR.

Volunteers hauled nearly 2,500 pounds of water onto the course, starting the endeavor in May. Additionally, volunteers manned aid stations along the route, tracked runners by their bib numbers as they passed checkpoints, supported runners on course, and formed sweep teams that ensured all racers made it down the ridge safely.

Boswell, who has been involved with the race for 26 years and ran it 24 times, said the people are his favorite part of the BRR.

“I’m usually the rear sweep, and I get to see the grit and determination of everyone, especially in the back half of the race to dig deep and finish it,” Boswell said.

This year, 227 racers finished the BRR. Boswell’s name is listed last on the race results.

While diminished air quality from wildfire smoke threatened to cancel the BRR earlier in the week, rain and shifting wind patterns cleared the air ahead of race day. By Friday, lightning threatened to disrupt the race, and athletes received a safety briefing on how to respond to electrical storms on top of the Ridge. By Saturday morning, however, the skies were clear and the air quality had improved, allowing the race to go forward as planned.

“I’m just incredibly grateful for the weather, and everyone coming together for this huge community event,” Boswell said.