Hotshot Trot at Gibson Park

Event Details

The Hotshot Trot 2025 is a 5K race in Great Falls, MT, targeted at first responders as well as the general community.

While we hope to see lots of first responder teams participating, this event is family-friendly and is open to everyone who wants to support our firefighters and first responders!

Race Categories Include:

Men & Women:

10 & Under, 11-14, 15-17, 18-21, 22-25, 26-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, and 60+

​Teams:

Wildland firefighter crews, structure firefighters, law enforcement, military, families, etc.

Event Details:

The Hotshot Trot will begin on the east side of the pond at Gibson Park, running northeast along the path before looping down around the west side of the pond and taking a right to cross under the railroad tracks. From there, racers will run past the skate park, cross River Drive North, and take a left southwest toward the First Avenue North bridge. After crossing the Missouri River, runners will take a right to West Bank Park, where they will run past the Coach Brady statue and stick to the right along the river for about 150m before looping back around and following the same path back across the river and River Drive North. After crossing back under the train tracks on the east side of the river, racers will take a right and run around the south end of Gibson Park before finishing just southeast of the flower gardens. This course is entirely paved and follows sections of the Gibson Park Trail and River's Edge Trail.

Proceeds from this event will be donated to three 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations:

• The Wildland Firefighter Foundation is dedicated to helping families of wildland firefighters killed in the line of duty, assisting injured firefighters and their families, preventing further line of deaths, and providing timely safety messages.
• The Great Falls Fire Rescue Foundation seeks to improve public safety through private and public grants and individual giving to fill in funding gaps for the fire department, helping Great Falls Fire Rescue maintain and develop essential and life-saving efforts, update technology, and acquire new equipment used to serve the citizens of Great Falls.
• The Great Falls Police Community Foundation supports and promotes public safety through partnerships that provide resources to help the GFPD perform at its highest level of service to the community, providing resources that are not readily available through other means and supporting programs designed to help the GFPD keep pace with rapidly evolving technology, strategies, and training.

We are passionate about supporting our local heroes and bringing the community together for a meaningful cause. Our event provides an opportunity to honor and recognize the brave individuals who risk their lives to keep us safe.

-----------------

What is a Hotshot You Might Ask?

Interagency Hotshot crews (IHCs), commonly called Hotshots or Hotshot crews, are highly trained, specialized wildland fire handcrews that perform some of the most demanding and hazardous tasks in wildland firefighting.

Their profession requires a high level of physical fitness and extensive knowledge of fire behavior with the ability to develop and implement strategy and tactics on the most complex incidents under extreme conditions; a high aptitude for mitigating risk using exemplary situational awareness and outstanding communications skills; and excellent leadership characteristics at all levels.

On average, Hotshots spend more days on the fire line performing fire suppression activities than any other ground-based firefighting resource and are assigned to the most challenging terrain and/or priority wildfire incidents throughout the country.