Connect With Your Community!
Connect With Your Community!
The upcoming Montana Warrior Run-Gallatin Valley in Three Forks will help raise for area veterans.
The Montana Impact event is scheduled for August 28 and will feature a 10K/10K Ruck at 8:30 a.m., a 5K at 10 a.m., and one mile run at 11:30.
According to one of the organizers and veteran Parker Taylor, the event mirrors other Warrior Run events around the state. Taylor is friends with Impact Montana's event coordinator, who asked him and another friend if they wanted to host one in the Gallatin Valley.
"We chose Three Forks because there are so many events in Bozeman already, plus the city is so much easier to work with. This model is now being adopted by Impact Montana as a way to bring attention to smaller communities while avoiding some of the red tape that goes along with putting on events in the bigger towns," he said.
According to Parker, Impact Montana's mission is to improve people's lives through six "thrive factors" (physical, financial, social, career, spiritual, and family) in order to hopefully prevent issues from coming up at all.
The chance to give back to the veteran community is incredibly important to Taylor.
"I have been blessed in my life with good health and a solid support system, and hosting this event is my way to help my brothers and sisters in arms who haven't been quite as fortunate. We hear a lot about veteran suicide and mental health issues, and I have seen the effects of both," he said.
For those unfamiliar with "rucking," Parker described it as 'simply walking with weights."
It's a great form of low-impact cardio and a foundation of a lot of military training. I love rucking (running, not so much), and so it was important to me that this event has a rucking option," he said. "So, if you want to support the event but you're not a runner, throw a few pounds in a backpack and try the ruck option. I usually ruck with 30-40 pounds, but if you've never done it before, start with 15-20, or maybe even just a full camelback. Whatever you're comfortable with is fine."
Parker also wanted to send out a huge thanks to all of the local sponsors.
"I have had people contact me by phone, email, text message, and every other way just begging me to take their money, and I can't say enough how much I appreciate it," he said.
