BUTTE — Wes Plate may be a native of Washington state but he has deep family roots in the Mining City.
So he came up with a unique way to combine his family's history, his love of running and his fondness for Butte — a 100-mile ultramarathon that traverses the Deerlodge National Forest and a large swath of the Continental Divide Trail.
The inaugural Copper Kings 100 will start Friday morning at 4 a.m. from the Belmont Mine and will see some 100 runners from 20 states endure a loop that will be as scenic as it will be grueling.
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"I wanted a special project I could do to run around Butte to honor my family's history," explained Plate, who is serving as the race director. "So, I had this idea to run from my aunt's ranch out to my grandma's cabin and link together these pieces of my family's history. And eventually it turned into a loop of celebrating all that's around here."
Runners will have until 8 p.m. on Saturday to complete the race, and Plate estimated the fastest runners may finish the course, which will have eight aid stations scattered through the loop, in around 20 hours.
"This course is really beautiful," said Plate. "We're able to use 63 miles of the Continental Divide Trail, which is one of the most scenic trails in the country. The runners are going to be able to go up behind the East Ridge and have nice views of Butte from up above. This course is really lovely and we're really excited to be sharing it with runners from around the country."
One of those runners is Doug Watson, a Florida resident who will be competing alongside his brother Dan Watson, who lives in Wisconsin. While these ultra endurance events may seem to be the domain of people with exceptional athleticism, Doug stressed that the main challenge is a mental one.
"Anyone can do it, I mean that so sincerely," said Doug. "You see some elite athletes that don't finish and then some people you would never guess are runners finish strong. It's very inspiring."
