What a great place to hold a Marathon and the organizers do a great job. Although this is a smaller Marathon they get it right. Well run with all the things you need to run a great time. Course has a little hill early on but miles of flat easy running. The weather was perfect, Pace Leaders were fantastic, the field is fast (where else would a 3:40 not be in the top 20% of the field), miles well marked, water stops plentiful, medal and T-shirt were great. It is super easy to get around, to the start, home after the race, heck, anywhere in town. Everyone was so nice, so friendly.
Eugene is an interesting town with everything you need for a nice Marathon weekend, hotels for everyone, lots of good food and a college / hippy feel that is just fun.
I highly recommend this race to anyone wanting a fun weekend topped off with a BQ and a PR.

I was so excited to see Meb at the Expo. He signed my race ready tee and bib. He's local, from Mammoth Lakes, CA and me being from Bishop so I have the altitude training year round and IT DOES HAVE BENEFITS (ENERGY!). I do agree that they should stag start times between the full marathoners and half. Should be 1 hr. in between. Seemed it took forever before packs opened up.

Part of the course was like running on a car race-way and there was no flats; had problems with ITB after that. The Gatorade was really watered down until the last couple of water stations then got better. It was terrific finishing into Hayward stadium and hearing the cheering crowd's. Great spread of food at the finish. One of the security personnel at the end of the finish into the food area wouldn't let a sick gal go back through, he told her to find a trash can in the food area and use it, but she then convinced him to let her go back into the medical aid tent area. Have sympathy please... Bus shuttle's worked out well back to the Hilton after the race and the wait time was minimal.

If Oregon is one state you need to check off, Eugene is definitely worth it. Oh and yes there are hills (especially mile 7), so hillwork pays off.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this race and had a 'what the hey, just go run, get it done, go home.' however, I really enjoyed it! I will definitely go back and do it again. Also had fun in Eugene. Stayed right by campus, and the football spring game was on Sat. Students were out everywhere having fun, made for a great atmosphere all around.

Pros:
* The course was very pretty - at one point early on you could see fog settled in the treetops around Amazon Park. Very Northwest scene.
* Excellent organization
* Great vibe among racers and spectators. Everyone was friendly and calm - I didn't come across the freaked-out, scared to death, pre-26.2 head cases you usually encounter.
* Friendly, helpful volunteers

Cons:
* Far, far, far too few portalets on the course. You can have 500 at the start, doesn't matter at all when you're gripped by GI distress at 7.5, 9.5, 15, 19, etc. PLEASE have them at least every other mile. (Calif. Intl. Marathon are the best at doing this.)
* Roads were narrow going through neighborhoods and got bottlenecked a lot. i was weaving around and going on the sidewalk too much. More and smaller corrals to spread folks out from the beginning would help.

Seeing Meb talk the day before got me sooo pumped for this race. You feel so much excitement and energy as you start this race next to Hayward where so many amazing runners have ran. The weather was perfect. Pacers were spot on, and there was an adequate number of racers around you so you were never alone. I had trained to run the course at a 7:05 pace, unfortunately 10 days before I strained my IT band doing some polymeric exercises. Tried to warm it up, but fell off my pace when I started to run with a limp. Super bummed because I seriously think this is the course where I would have set a big PR. I wouldn't say it is the most beautiful course, but is organized and does many of the little things other races don't do (electronic goodie bags, cheap race photos).

Traveled from North Carolina to Eugene. Had a very nice extended weekend trip to a race I have always wanted to do. Overall a good trip.

Pros:
- Pretty flat course with good chance of cool temps
- Nice Nike Dri-Fit shirt
- Nice finishers medal
- Free post race massage
- Hayward finish line

Cons:
- Very crowded start.
- Not nearly enough greenways/trails.
- LOTS of concrete in the second half
- Expo was not good at all. Had high hopes for 'Track Town USA'.

Suggestions:
- So much history is at Hayward. Would be great to offer some guided walking tours on the Saturday before the race.
- You need more corrals and they need to be enforced. A separate start for the half would help too.
- Move the expo and packet pickup to the Basketball arena.
- If you have a speaker like Meb, don't do it in a hotel lobby. Reserve a room where people can hear and really enjoy it more.

This is a northwest gem with a lot going for itjust needs some details worked out.

Pros:
Priced well. Bib has your name on it. Eco-friendlyno wasteful brochures, etc, recycle bins at all events. Simple expo; easy packet pick-up. Able to exchange shirt if stock allows. Host hotel has convenient shuttle to start. Race starts on time. Weather was PERFECTcloudy skies, 55 degrees for 2/3 of the race. Mile markers very visible. Post-race food abundantincluding pancakes. Great medal. Course has breath-taking beauty and scenery. Route mostly flat with some downhill stretches and one relatively good-sized hill at mile 7. Friendly water stops. Many Gu and banana stops. Impossible to take a wrong turn on the course. Great spectators but not a ton of them. Results posted quickly. Great restaurants, brew pubs all around. Saturday Market nearby. Very friendly and hospitable folk throughout the area.

Cons:
Corral entry points hard to find. Restrooms plentiful in start area but set up so lines to use them couldn't que up. Bag drop in odd placewell behind corrals. No clock at the start. Only one clock on the course (half-way point). No consistency in water stopssome had Gatorade first, water secondothers vice versa. Some volunteers had gloves, others not. MAJOR LAPSE: mile 16 ran out of cupsthere was no water for 4.5 miles (last water stop was at mile 14no cups/water until 18+). Some camber to watch out for mid-race. No signs in post-race area to reunion area, to shuttles, to amenities. Most all of these things easily fixable.

The course is beautiful. The vast majority of runners are fast/faster than mostgood place to run among some talent in the 'rank and file'. Finish times for most were very good. Weather was outstanding. Finishing on Hayward Field a treata lot of history, running lore, and Nike abound. Would like to run this one again.

This place is my new favorite marathon....too much to talk about between Pres Rock and the race but absolutely an unforgetable experience - my PR but a great race run by people who understand running

The course is scenic and mostly flat. There were fans along the entire course, and they were enthusiastic. The organization was good, but not perfect.

When I decided I want to run Boston, I had to pick an qualifying marathon. I decided on Eugene for many reasons - location, flat course, timing and Eugene being a mecca for running. It was a perfect experience. I qualified for Boston by 17 minutes and this was my first marathon. The Clif pacer was amazing. The post race area with instant results printed out for me was nice. The field size is big enough to have a big race feel, but small enough to make things manageable. Finishing on Hayward Field was awesome.

Everything about this marathon is first-class. It has many of the things that big marathons have, perhaps with the exception of the expo. There is nothing bad about the expo. The size of it is about right, but if you want to spend the whole day walking and checking out the expo and buying merchandise, maybe this doesn't fit the bill completely for you. But if you are there to run a race, the size of it is just right. There is plenty of free parking. Meter parking on Sunday is also free. I parked just right on the street right by the Hilton, the host hotel, on race day.

The Course: Beautiful, scenic and fast. There is only one noticeable hill around mile 7. Some other small and short inclines. But if you have trained for hills, there are doable, if not easy. Quite a few gradual declines as well. You run cross the beautiful Willamette River. The nine miles of bike paths across different parks, sometimes with trees on both sides, are just as invigorating and welcoming. You finish in the track at Historical Hayward Field, where you family and friends can watch on the stand and/or the big screen.

Organization: Every mile is well marked with big and tall blue mile flag marker; you just can't miss it. If my memory serves me correctly, they have clocks and mats at 10K, the halfway point, and the 20M mark. Plenty of porta-potties and water stations, with Gatorade and water on both sides manned by kind and enthusiastic volunteers. Clif Shot was offered on course, though only at a couple of stations. The bus rides to and from hotels are frequent. Bag drop-off and pick-up are easy. Everyone is so friendly. Your name is printed on your bib. Though there aren't as many varieties as some other marathons when it comes to post-race refreshments, they have plenty of the items they do have on offer. They even have people making fresh pancakes! You can go and obtain a printout of your individual preliminary results - your net time, 10K, half and 20M splits right after your race pretty much right away. You can even have your picture taken and put into a plastic ID-type of neck-hanging batch and take home with you FREE.

Spectators: There are plenty of spectators for this size of marathons, and they are all extremely friendly. Be prepared for them to call out your name and give your high-fives and encouragement along the way.

Make sure your book your accommodation early, at least two months or earlier in advance, or else you are going find that most of the hotels and B&Bs are solidly booked, even with over a month before the event. I have done eight marathons. This one has been the best! Well done, Eugene!