Elliot Welder, one of the many superb long distance runners to come out of Flathead High School, turned in a record-breaking performance on July 10 at the Missoula Marathon. Welder shattered the marathon’s record with his winning time of 2:26:25. That means he ran just over 26 miles at a pace of 5:36 per mile. Pretty remarkable.
Welder, a former Princeton runner, beat out a crowded field in Missoula, with the next closest competitor finishing 10 minutes behind him. More than 4,000 people overall – men and women – participated in both the half marathon and marathon on July 10.
According to the Missoulian, Welder, 23, credited well-known Flathead High long distance coach Paul Jorgensen as an inspiration. You can check out the Missoulian story here and an interview he did with KPAX here.