This was my first marathon, and I loved it. It was mostly flat, other than some small hills for the first 3 miles, and the hill at mile 4 that reappears at the end. It was great to follow the bay. I live in Texas, but grew up in the Northwest, and it was so great to run my first marathon where there was perfect weather, you could see the water the entire way, and where I had great memories (I went on my honeymoon to the Oregon coast). I ran it with my twin sister, which made it perfect.

I do agree with other comments made - namely that it would have been nice to have mile markers the first 5 miles, so that I could have known my pace better, and that the HEED was a bit watered down. There's a very long break from mile 20-25 with no water, but my husband met us at mile 22 with Gatorade, which was perfect. We also brought our own GU ge; -at the race they had some at about mile 13 and mile 15, but it's Hammer Gel, which I'm not a fan of.

I thought it was a very well organized race, and the volunteers were very helpful. We thought that the spaghetti dinner the night before was very good, as was the clam chowder at the end of the race. The weather was probably in the high 40's at the beginning of the race. It warmed up, and the sun was out for most of it, and then towards the end a fog came in off the coast, dropping the temperature quite a bit.
I cried at the end - it was in the top-5 best experiences of my life, with the first three being my husband and 2 kids!

This was my third marathon, but my first in Newport. The course had more hills than I expected, though they weren't bad. They're mostly early on, although there is a gradual ascent from mile 25 to 26. There were more spectators than I was expecting, which was very nice. People running were very nice too. My only complaints are (1): there were no mile markers for the first five miles; with the hills and lots of turns in those miles, it was very difficult to judge pace, and I started out too fast without the mile markers. (2) the spacing of the water tables was a little far, especially in the last 6 miles (I think they were around mile 21 and mile 24?). But great tech t-shirt and Rogue beer at the finish!

Looking for a flat, spring course on which to qualify for Boston brought me to Newport. I enjoyed the course from start to finish. It was nice sleeping in more than usual before the start of a race, and simply walking to the starting line and easily getting into position (we stayed at the beautiful Elizabeth Street Inn). The chatter among runners was friendly and I got the feeling that many people knew each other. Supportive smiles were plentiful and the organizers seemed to be on top of everything. I brought gels, so I had no issue with the HEED (as mentioned in other posts), and rather enjoyed trying one with a healthy ingredient list for a change. No problems there. Everything about this marathon was simply charming. If you are thinking about trying a small-scale marathon, Newport satisfies. Even without a lot of spectators, the seal "cheering" on runners passing through the harbor more than made up for it. I enjoyed the challenge of the hill at around mile 25 and to top it all off... I qualified! Newport, you rock! I send my thanks to the race director and volunteers. A lot of townspeople were supportive as well.

This was my first marathon and it was awesome. My goal was to finish the race happy and healthy, which I did. I thought the water stations were sufficient (though the HEED was watered down). The course was basically flat, and the scenery was very pretty.

This is my 2nd time running Newport. It is a beautiful, flat course - a great one to race on. The spectators, although sparse, were enthusiastic and volunteer support was great. My only issue, which I'm wondering if others had this same problem with, was that the HEED seemed very watered down. It almost tasted like water. I was plagued with leg and foot cramps from about mile 10 on, which was frustrating, and wonder if the watered down HEED was part of the problem. Other than that, though, it was a great race that I look forward to running next year - minus the leg cramps, hopefully.

The 2009 course was different from the one in 2008. There were many twists, turns, and small hills in first 4 miles. A little distance had to be added, as the previous year's route wasn't a full 26.2. Hence, all of the comments about PR's.

Positives: Miles 4 through 26 are nice, along a river. Very friendly volunteers and staff. Easy parking at finish area, and the bus transfer to the start was quick. Good weather and finisher shirt.

Negatives: While it didn't bother me, don't run this race if you want fan support. Water stations need to be larger and have more volunteers. It was hard to find a flat spot on the road along the river. The slope/grade was tough.

Overall, I'd recommend to others. This is a neat little town with friendly people. Good choice for Oregon on my way to 50/50.

This was a beautiful marathon. I LOVED IT, but there were not enough water/drink tables.

The Newport Marathon is ideal - gorgeous scenery, pleasant course, incredibly friendly people, and an excellent race director (I didn't get to meet him in person, but he was very kind and helpful via e-mail). It was well organized and low-key. The weather was perfect marathon weather; of course, the Oregon coast can be iffy. I did PR significantly, as many runners do on that course. It's one of Oregon's must-do marathons. For me, it was one of the highlights of my year.

Almost a perfect race. Weather was perfect: upper 40s at the start and upper 50s by the end. Flat course. Don't mind the minimal crowd support. The long stretch of sloping road by the estuary is just a bit of a bother. Very nice 10th anniversary medal and beautiful design shirt (it's cotton).

This was a perfect marathon weekend in Newport. The weather was perfect (no rain! yahoo!). The scenery was beautiful and the town of Newport was very supportive of all of these runners coming to visit. I also cramped really badly, and I'm not sure why. I had Heed at another race recently and it was also diluted a lot for some reason. Anyway, I stopped for a couple of oyster shooters on my way back, and once I started I could not stop; I had around 20! Great for energy! I ran this in '04 and it rained a lot that weekend and was low tide. This time I had a great time running the course. It was high tide in the bay and no rain. The race organization was perfect from the expo to the awards ceremony. Loved the chowder and beer at the finish and the medal and T-shirt. Great time and great small-town marathon experience on the beautiful coast of Oregon. I would definitely come back again.