HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The City of Havre is preparing for what is expected to be the busiest weekend since the pandemic began, with numerous events scheduled.
The crown jewel of the weekend will be the inaugural Bear Paw Marathon, which will begin on Saturday morning at 6 AM.
Many roads, including a large stretch of the Bear Paw Highway, will be either closed or have pilot cars directing traffic during the Marathon. This includes:
- Southbound lane of Bear Paw Highway from Butte Road to Sucker Creek Road from 6 AM-11 AM. A pilot car will guide traffic in the northbound lane
- Sucker Creek Road will be closed from 6 AM – 7 AM
- First Lake Road will be closed from 7 AM – 10 AM
- Butte Road will be closed from 7 AM until around 2 PM
- Expect other roads in Beaver Creek Park to have road monitors that will tell motorists to wait for pilot cars to direct traffic
- 13th Street by the Hospital will be open, but there will be crossing guards to help keep runners safe, so be careful when driving
Spectators are asked to only watch the race once the runners reach Havre. On the MSU-Northern campus, a party will take place at the finish line near Tilleman Field beginning at around 10 AM.
“Spectators are certainly allowed to go watch them run on the sidewalks, on any of the streets that they are running on,” says Julea Robbins, Executive Director for the Havre Chamber of Commerce. “Then, they can come on down to MSU-Northern and line the backroad by the brand new stadium and cheer their people on. If you don’t know anybody, you can still come and cheer people on…And then we have a finish line afterparty from around 10 AM-4 PM. We’ll have live music, Vic’s is going to cater some drinks, we’ve got food trucks, and just lots of fun and we’ll try to make it a good time for the community. We’ll also have bounce houses, mini-golf and cornhole.”
A total of 305 people have signed up to participate in a marathon related event. 30 people have signed up to participate in-person for the full marathon, 100 have signed up for the in-person half marathon, and 112 people have signed up for the in-person 5k. The rest have either signed up to participate in Friday night’s pub crawl or a virtual race.
Other events scheduled for this weekend include the North Central Everything Antique Show, a Little Britches Rodeo, Living History Day at Fort Assiniboine, an American Legion Baseball Jamboree, a girls softball tournament and golf and mini-golf tournaments.
“There’s lots going on, there’s lots to see and do,” Robbins says. “There’s something for everyone going on this weekend. Everything is going to touch on a different crowd and if you’re just coming into town, try and get into as many places as you can. We love the Havre community, and having so many things is what makes this place great.”
