Whitefish man runs across Bob in one day

Mike Murray didn’t think too much about

running 50 miles through the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Once he set

his goal, there was no changing his mind.

“Everybody talks about going to the

Bob,” he said. “It was my first time and I just decided to blast

through it. Once the seed was planted, I couldn’t let it go.”

On Sept. 10 at 5 a.m. Murray, of

Whitefish, set out with a headlamp and a small pack at Benchmark on

the east side of the Rocky Mountain Front. He ran through 80 degree

weather, over two mountain passes and 17 hours later arrived at

Pyramid Pass near Seeley Lake.

Murray, 56, had seen the Bob for the

first time.

“It was beautiful,” he said last week.

“I plan on going back and spending some leisure time there.”

Murray reflects on the trip

matter-of-factly. It was his goal and he did it. Not unlike last

summer when he says he swam the length of Whitefish Lake. He also

runs marathons and does Ironman triathlons.

He packed light for the trip. No water

filter. No emergency blanket. No bear spray.

On his back was a small pack for food,

and in his hand he carried a 12 ounce water bottle that he filled

in creeks. He ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, oatmeal

raisin cookies, Twix bars and hard candies. Murray wore running

shoes and covered his feet in petroleum jelly to keep from getting

blisters.

“I tried to be as light as possible,”

he said. “There’s usually enough water in streams. Peanut butter

and jelly is what I eat for Ironman races. It has all you need —

carbs and protein.”

The Bob trip was Murray’s first major

trail running trip. He ran about 150 miles in Glacier National Park

this summer preparing. He considered running the Le Grizz

Ultramarathon, a 50 mile race around Hungry Horse Reservoir, but

decided running a gravel road wasn’t for him.

“I enjoy trail running much better than

running on pavement because it’s hard on you,” he said.

He doesn’t consider himself a swimmer

even though he swam Whitefish Lake. He only began marathon running

roughly a decade ago after being teased by his brothers to try

it.

“It keeps me out of the bar in the

morning,” he said with a laugh. “It keeps me active. I have a

problem going to The Wave and just working out. I have to go toward

a goal.”

The Bob trip was also about pushing

himself. Murray said the trip was worth it, but he’s also happy he

finished. It was harder than his other athletic endeavors and

climbing Mount Rainier and Kilimanjaro.

“This (the Bob) was the hardest because

it was he longest,” he said. “Ironmann is faster and you summit a

mountain in 12 to 14 hours. I was glad when it was over. I have a

lot of admiration for those who do the Swan Crest 100. I got a

taste of a little bit of that.”

He doesn’t plan on running the Bob

again, but he’s open to more challenges.

“I don’t know about 2012, but I’m open

to suggestions,” he said.