Sixth annual RUFA Mt Sentinel - February 7

Registration is open for the annual, wild and iconic Running Up For Air challenge, Saturday, February 7, 2026!

As part of the Up For Air Series, RUFA Mt. Sentinel is a 3-, 6-, 12-, or 24-hour winter endurance challenge on Mt. Sentinel (5,158’ elevation), the iconic mountain on the edge of Missoula.

Yep - you read that right - this year there's a 24-hour option (if 20 folks sign up) with that event starting Friday Feb 6 at 6 pm. Also new this year, you can start the 6-hour at 6 am or noon and the 3-hour at noon or 3 pm. Awards and pizza celebration all still happens right at 6pm on Saturday.

Early bird registration ends Dec 31 - sign up today and secure your spot.  

The organizing partners putting on this fabulous event are Jeff, Mike and Adam - via the Rut Mountain Runs and Runners Edge, and all proceeds support us at Climate Smart Missoula and our efforts to improve air quality for all Montanans. Donations are open now until the end of February.

All of the charities chosen to receive donations in the UFA series have been carefully selected based on their efficient and impactful work to improve air quality.  That's us!

​Thank you for your help in reaching this goal -- all for clean air and energy and climate solutions! 

Whether you hike a lap or two, or run nine (or more!) or plan to go for 3 or 24 hours, we hope to see you there!

Support Abby, Amy, Shanti and Susan!

Here's how our team trained for RUFA 2024! (2025 video coming soon)

Thanks to our 2025 RUFA Sponsors

Inspiration!

Here are some awesome photos, from talented photographer Anastasia Wilde, from RUFA 2024 and 2023!
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And the very fun 2022 event photos are here.

Celebrating RUFA 2024 Impact:

PictureAnastasia Wilde photo
Thanks to everyone who joined us out on the mountain Saturday Feb. 10 for the 4th annual Running up for Air (RUFA)! We’re so grateful to the entire team at the Runner’s Edge for coordinating this amazing event, and to all the participants for raising awareness and funds for our clean air efforts.

Here are a few incredible statistics from the day:

  • 129 people participated, and collectively completed 544 trips up to the top of Mt. Sentinel. Volunteers contributed another 24 laps, bringing the grand total to 568 laps and 1,079,200'!

  • Each of those 568 laps was matched with a $5 donation thanks to 2 anonymous local donors, raising an additional $2,835 for Climate Smart Missoula!

  • Men's 12-hour, Women's 12-hour, and Men's 3-hour records were all broken! Missoulian Luke Galloway crushed the course record by completing 13 laps in under twelve hours, and Missoulian Kallie Smith completed 11 laps for the women’s 12 hours, another record.

  • We also had the most participants ever - and everyone was truly a winner!

It can be daunting to look ahead at all we need to accomplish to solve the climate crisis, but really it’s like heading toward any summit - we focus on taking the next step, then the next, until solutions gain traction. From the volunteers who spent the night at the summit aid station to be ready for the early morning runners, to the dedicated 12-hour participants running lap after lap, to the casual hikers adding their footprints to the snow and mud during the 3-hour home stretch, to donors supporting participants from far and wide - we are truly inspired by everyone who made RUFA 2024 such a huge success.
Thank you for participating in RUFA!
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