I checked the pins on my bib, shimmied my spandex shorts into place, and teed up the stopwatch on my wrist. I closed my eyes under the expansive, blue Big Sky above, inhaled the Montana mountain air, and listened to the hum of the thousand or so of us waiting for the race to start. This was the 5K crowd, livelier and less focused than the folks who’d be lining up the following day for the 2022 Missoula Marathon. Some were probably doing the 5K as a shakeout, a quick warmup before the big dance tomorrow. But for me, this was the big dance.
I pressed Play on my mix. The first song, “Genesis” by Justice, was, I’d learn later, a bit aggressive out of the gate. But like every…
