MISSOULA — Running through health challenges, elite runner Abby Rodseth returned to the Missoula Half Marathon. While this was her fourth time competing, crossing the finish line this year meant much more than a race time.
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“Oh, it feels really good. Today was just a blessing and amazing to be able to cross the finish line for me,” Rodseth said. “I've had a really long postpartum journey the last two years and so I've just been excited to be able to put this on the race calendar for my first competitive race back at it again”
Rodseth has been running her whole life, from elementary school to high school varsity to cross country and track at the University of Idaho. In 2023, she ran the Missoula Half Marathon, finishing third in the women’s race, and ran the Boston Marathon.
“I’ve always been passionate about it and I just want to keep doing it for as long as my body will allow me, as long as God allows me to do it,” she said. “Right now, I'm pursuing that Olympic qualifying time in the marathon.”
But, her running journey has not always been easy. She has had to push through injuries, surgeries and two years of postpartum recovery.
“My last surgery was back in November, and so I got cleared to start running in January,” she said. “This has been the hardest, longest run I've had since getting back at it. We just started workouts about a month ago.”
Rodseth finds time to train between working full-time as a detective with the Great Falls Police Department, helping to coach distance runners with Fly Tri Racing and, of course, her family.
“I spend a lot of my time with my family and working and, then, squeezing runs in and workouts whenever I can,” she said. “I’m a wife, I'm a mom to two little girls who also love to run.”
The Missoula Marathon has become a family tradition. Saturday, her two year-old joined her seven year-old, running in the kids’ race without a stroller for the first time. The girls wore glitter for good luck and, on Sunday, Rodseth did too.
“I kept telling her that I'm like, ‘You're strong, you're fast, you're beautiful and that glitter is going to make you even stronger and faster,’” she said. “My kiddos wanted to match me today and I said, ‘OK, I'm going to throw the glitter on because it's going to make me run faster today.’”
It worked, Rodseth finished with a gun time of 1:25:58, 11th place in the women’s race. Just minutes after crossing the finish line, she was already looking forward to racing in Missoula for a fifth time next year.
“Just coming back from all the injuries and postpartum journey that I've been on, I love it because I get to show my girls that anything's possible with God on their side.”
