I grew up in Eugene, so I've really wanted to run this for awhile now, but 2010 was my first year. My sister and I both ran the half. While the expo made you feel a bit like a hamster in a habitrail, everything else was exceptional. This was my 6th half in two years. Great, flat course. I, too, PR'd. I thought the water stations were fine, and I liked the bananas at mile 9. The post-race food was the best! Subway, pancakes, and lots of snacks - yum. I've run much larger races (too crowded) and smaller races (too little swag and not chip-timed), but this one was just right! This Goldilocks will definitely be signing up for 2011.

I traveled to Eugene anticipating a fantastic finish but not realizing how enjoyable the entire week would be.

Pros:
- Finish on Hayward Field
- Beautiful course
- Good support
- Friendly volunteers and organizers
- Frequent and well-supplied water stops
- Frequent and plentiful port-a-potties
- Feather banners for mile markers
- Welcoming city residents pleased to have a marathon there (How many times have you seen retirement home residents sit outside in the cold to cheer runners?)
- Free tickets to the Oregon Relays before the race

Cons:
- Small/crowded expo (not a big deal to me)
- Split for full/half needs better marking
- More concrete on the route than I expected
- Race has grown to the point where it could use more than two corrals

Adding Pre's trail to the route would be a nice addition, but may be difficult given the number of runners.

I have to say that I ran this one injured and did not come near my goal. But the finish was so exhilarating that it was easy to forget any disappointment and enjoy the moment. A great run!

Good race overall, but there are a few things that need attention (mostly due to growing pains, I'm sure).

Cons:

1) Desperately need a longer starting corral and possibly a seeded start. It was really (almost dangerously) crowded for the first 4 miles or so.

2) There were no mainstream gels at expo; I had to drive to a running store to get some. Also, people aren't going to all of a sudden chance it and start using Liquid Gold the day of the race. What was that stuff?

3) Expo was too big for the area provided and VERY disorganized.

4) Water stations need a lot of work. Keep them on straightaways instead of turns, make them longer, and work on the organization (water first or Gatorade first, or always on the same side).

5) In the city races that I've done in the past, owners of cars are notified not to park on the course or they would be towed. There were cars everywhere, including people trying to pull out into the crowd. This was made worse because it was so crowded at the beginning.

6) Would like to see more timing sensors. This is a little nit-picky, I realize. I just like to analyze my results, and this race had the fewest of any CITY races I've done in the past. It also seemed like it would be really easy for people to cheat, because there were no chip sensors at the end of the first out-and-back.

Pros:

1) Finishing on Hayward Field (enough to make me forget most of the cons I mentioned).

2) Shuttles were really efficient.

3) It was cool that they kept a video of the finish line so you can see what you looked like coming in.

4) Cool course overall.

As a senior citizen runner, Eugene and Hayward Field are truly legendary. It was a positive treat to be "Running in the Footsteps of Legends." Not sure if I am now a legend myself, as a result - maybe just a "legend in my own mind," as they say.

Great event for such a new one. Some growing pains - partly due to rapid growth - to be totally forgiven if organizers learn. Expo needs a new site. Water stations need some attention, particularly the first one that didn't get the memo and had water on one side and sport drink on the other - you could not get both.

Hayward Field finish made me feel like I was a legend. I was tired by then, but anything but running as hard as I could go was not an option after passing those gates!

Well done. I will almost certainly be back next year.

Lovely small-town marathon. We came to Eugene in '08 for the Olympic Track and Field Trials and came back when we heard the finish would be on the track at Hayward Field. We had run the last half of the course on a long run and knew how beautiful it would be (concrete not withstanding).

Pros:
1. Finish on the track
2. Shuttles from hotel
3. Plenty of porta-lets
4. Enthusiastic spectators
5. Nice technical shirt

Cons:
1. Terrible pasta dinner. Flimsy paper plates and no place to sit, with red tomato sauce?!!
2. Crowded expo. The Hilton had way too much going on.
3. What was that Liquid Gold stuff? Why not name brand gels?
4. The water tasted terrible. Was it tap water? I finally got some from some spectators who saved the day.
5. My brother (his first marathon) lost his chip and we were told there was a help table where he could get a new one. We never could find it so he ran without one. His fault for losing it, but a real shame.

These are picky things, but they're easily remedied. This was my third marathon, and my husband's 26th. We've run lots of halves of all different sizes. I would recommend this highly.

This was my second marathon, and my first time to travel for one.

Pros: Incredible finish on Hayward Field - please keep this for future marathons. Great organization, from shuttles to finish. The weather was PERFECT!

Cons: Only downside was that I almost got hit by a guy on a bike on the trail. It is hard to control your movement from side to side after 20+ miles, and I couldn't get out of his way fast enough. Some volunteers on the course saw what happened and commented on how rude the cyclist was. Problem could be solved by changing the course, but it is so beautiful along the river that it would make more sense to just close it to bike traffic.

Course: PR for myself and many others that I spoke to. You won't find many faster courses at this time of year in the western part of the country. Not entirely flat for the first half, but the hills were minor, and had a minimal effect on the overall time.

A few minor, critical comments about the course:
1. Half/full split at mile 10 was unclear to some. They could have used a prominent sign rather than a single volunteer directing traffic.
2. Concrete on the bike path was a bit tough on the legs, but at least it was all flat.
3. Things got crowded in mile 25 when the half an full converged. It was especially dicey when we had to squeeze through the road barriers that prevented vehicles from entering the park.

Spectators: Most knowledgeable fans in the country. Some spots got a bit sparse (especially when we headed over to Springfield), but overall the crowd support was superb.

Logistics: At least five hotels are within walking distance of the start and finish. Unlike previous big- city races that I have done, which require 4 a.m. wakeup calls and complicated transportation plans to get to the start or to return from the finish, we were able to walk out of our hotel around 6:15 and comfortably get to the start. After the race, despite the marathon induced soreness, it was an easy walk back to the hotel.

The race offered plentiful port-a-pots throughout the entire start and finish areas. The organizers know not to skimp in this area. They also got the race started basically on time.

Expo had good vendors, but it has probably outgrown that section of the hotel.

Summary: I was making plans to go back here in 2011 within 10 minutes of finishing the race. The race combines big-time organization skills with small-town charm. There are few races that can offer both.

I enjoyed this race. Good atmosphere and good course. I did not come away with any "wows!" from the race, but no negatives either. Although the finish at Heyward Field was pretty cool.


Pros:
Eugene is a good place to run.
Course was fair and relatively flat. The hills were not any issue,
Second half of the course was so much better than the first half (as you hit trails - albeit mostly concrete - at about mile 16 until just before the finish).
Water stops were well staffed, although several in our group had a couple where the water tasted like sewer water and a couple where the Gatorade mix was off.
Logistics were easy in the smaller town (we stayed within walking distance of the start).
Weather was great race day (but we were in Oregon for a week and this was the only day it did not rain).

Cons:
The half (twice the size of the full) and the full run together for the first 10 miles or so. This made the course very crowded. At about mile 7 or 8, we transitioned to a trail and it was very tight.
Expo was in too small of a space and thus crowded. It barely felt like more than somewhere to get your number and shirt.

I enjoyed the course. It is a pleasant one and basically flat. My only complaint is about the people riding their bikes on the bike path part of the course. It would be nice if they could be kept off of the course while the race is going on.

Overall a great marathon.

Positives:
1) Great course.
2) Finishing in Hayward Field (great motivation).
3) Excellent aid stations.
4) Great volunteers and spectators.
5) Excellent finishing medal.

Things to Make This Race Even Better:
1) Start line "pace signs." These helped to group everyone based on their expectved finish time, but they were too close to the starting line. This caused everyone to be crammed together. Space these out farther from the start line to give everyone more room.
2) Signage when the marathon and half marathon split.
3) Eliminate cones in the middle of completely closed streets. I just about tripped over a cone (mile 7-8ish) that was in the middle of the street/runners.
4) The split mats for the 13.1 was at 13.0. There were some other mistakes on the split mats.
5) You may need a new venue for the expo. The Hilton was too crowded.