Several hundred runners and walkers come out each year to run the long, point-to-point course that starts on the outskirts of Billings and takes runners all the way into the city center at the Queen Bee Marathon, Half Marathon, Relay & 10K, which takes place each fall in the largest city in the state of Montana.
Nicknamed the “Magic City” for its rapid growth as a city from its beginnings as a railroad town in the early 1880s, the city lies within the Yellowstone Valley and offers runners ample views of the scenic sandstone cliffs atop the river valley, which have been carved by the Yellowstone River through this region millions of years ago.
Those who’ve run this race in recent years report that it’s about as far as one can get from a big-city half marathon race like those in New York, Chicago or San Francisco — much of the first half of the race course or so is long straightaways through wide-open prairies just outside Billings, with few if any spectators along the route for these sections.
