To continue honoring Tony’s legacy and welcome a new face to this year’s conference, one of our two featured race directors this issue is Trisha Drobeck, who will follow in Tony’s giant footsteps. An elite runner who has won the Missoula Marathon four times and holds the current course record, Trisha also raced in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 (in a profile on the RWM site, she recalls hearing Tony cheering for her at the 2016 event.) New to the production side of the industry, Trisha knows she has her work cut out for her as she takes over the wild but welcoming Missoula race. We look forward to seeing her on the “roads, tracks and trails,” as Tony would say, as well as in the halls and meeting rooms of this year’s conference! Get to know Trisha:
MEET THE
RACE DIRECTOR TRISHA DROBECK In 2020, the running world and Running USA lost an exceptional race director, Tony Banovich of Montana. Unbeknownst to most, Tony had a serious heart condition, viral cardiomyopathy, and was told by doctors the week before his passing that he needed a heart transplant. Despite the pandemic, the running industry came together virtually last year to honor Tony with a run that raised funds for Run Wild Missoula, the non-profit that produces the Missoula Marathon. Tony had served as their Executive Director and Race Director since 2014. 22 | RACE DIRECTOR MAGAZINE
Job title: Executive Director, Race Director for Run Wild Missoula (RWM) and the Missoula Marathon Years in the industry: This is my first. What got you into the running industry? I've been an active volunteer, marathon committee member and participant at RWM for more than a decade. I've also raced or paced in the Missoula Marathon weekend since the inaugural race in 2007 (and marathon record holder since 2015 :)). When this position flew, I decided to make a huge career change and jump in. Why do you love your job? I have no problem talking about all things running all day long. What’s your favorite part of event production? At the risk of sounding cheesy, I really love being at the finish line and witnessing ath-
