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May 6, 2024

Eugene Marathon Runner Comments

Back to Eugene Marathon Information & Reviews

Course 4.6

Organization 4.5

Spectators 4.3

Number of comments: 159 [displaying comments 21 to 31]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 .. 16 > ]

James Laudermilch from State College PA (8/1/2014) "Great race and I would not change a thing" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 This a great race with a very nostalgic finish on Hayward field. The volunteers were very helpful and the comments regarding the trash cans / hoses are ridiculous. I drank from every station and had no issues. Moreover, this is a PR course. I exceeded my PR by 9 minutes. The course lends itself to a nice combination of small gentle up and down hills. The only improvement opportunity that I would suggest is looking at better parking arrangements.
t. r. from Washington (7/30/2014) "Over Rated Marathon" (about: 2014) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 The water situation needs to be addressed. They were filling garbage cans lined with garbage bags from a hose. this is EXTREMELY unsanitary. Hoses have bacteria and chemicals in them, and neither hoses or garbage bags are manufactured for consumption purposes. My husband and I both got very sick in tummy around mile 20. The health department needs to stop races from providing water in this fashion. Perhaps my view of 'scenic' is different than others, but my husband and I both thought it was not scenic. It was isolated and quiet, but not scenic. I won't run this again. Glad I did, but never again. The road surfaces were rough in certain areas. A lot of spectators rode bikes next to participants for many miles. A lot of public use on the course while on the river section: almost got run down three times by people on bikes flying through the participants. There is one part of the course where the road slants drastically....hard on the knees. Very very very hard to get a hotel because of the Jr. track championships. I loved being in track town, but won't waste my time and money again. There are far too many nice courses in the NW, and this rates last on our list.
L. C. from St. Louis, MO (7/30/2014) "Excellent course and great weather for July" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Truly a destination marathon located in historic Eugene, ending in Hayward Stadium. Oregon makes a wonderful vacation opportunity to vist incredible places like Crater Lake, Mount Hood, drive along Pacific Coast Highway and even Redwoods National Park in Northern California before or after the marathon. Low humidity really makes a difference where 70 or 80 degrees does not feel too bad. Of course if you run a sub 4 hour marathon you will be finishing when it's still relatively cool. Course is mostly flat with few elevations that are not too challenging. The cons - few spectators on portions of the course, part of the course is on concrete - while most is either on the road or asphalt bike path. The portion on the bike path is NOT closed to cyclists and there was an idiot who was riding in between runners around mile 22 at a fast pace! Some of the water stops were not properly arranged. Volunteers handing out water were standing too close and bunched together. While on the course I stopped to assist a runner who had collapsed. I waited along with some spectators until paramedics arrived. The paramedics seemed to be taking their time strolling up casually. This is not a negative against the organizers of the marathon but a concern regarding the attitude of the local EMT . I hope the lady is fine and be back on another marathon course soon. Medal was boring and not particularly memorable. Recovery area was a definite 'A' - well organized finishers' area with volunteers providing ice wraps, massage therapist students (mine was awesome), fair food including pancakes, chocolate milk, bagel, peanut butter, rice crispy treat and Clif bar sample. I wished there was also a bottle of electrolyte solution. Event website was well organized and updated quickly with results afterwards. Hotel accommodations can be difficult due to coincidence with junior international track and field competition. There are not many hotels in walking distance. If this marathon becomes more popular the organizers will have to consider. this. Expo was small. Speakers were not very interesting at least for me (sorry). Pace group at least the 4:00 leaders were awesome. Good job Darrin! Wished I could have caught back up with you.
S. M. from New Hampshire, USA (7/29/2014) "Great race, great spectators" (about: 2014) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my 7th marathon. I am amazed at the level of organization, attention, and services available at a relatively small marathon. One of the best parts was the placement of water stops and cheer zones, particularly in the last 10k. Nothing beats hearing that next mile marker before you can see it. It really helps you keep going. The course was very nice. There were lots of changes in scenery and just enough twists and turns to keep it interesting. The spectators were as amazing as you would expect in Eugene. Where else will you be encouraged to 'settle in' in a calming voice in the middle of mile 2? Throughout the course, there were fantastic marathon groupies following us. I counted at least 7 bikes rigged with music and several spectators with funny signs were following the runners as they progressed. In the last mile, everyone was yelling 'you are almost home!' I know they were referring the Hayward, but Eugene made the whole race feel like home.
S. W. from Oregon (7/27/2014) "A good race but why July?" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 The Eugene Marathon is a good race. For 2014 it was rescheduled to the end of July which is too warm for a marathon. Although the start time temperature was comfortable, it was around 80 degrees when I finished. The high temperature for the day was 91.
Jonathan Wykoff from California (5/13/2013) "Best Post Finish Area Ever." (about: 2013) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I have run 22 marathons ranging from small out of the way races in remote places to large events like Los Angeles, Disney World, and Boston. I have to say that this race has the best post race runner's area by far. Instead of being shuttled through a corral set up on a street, this one was set up on a field behind the track with the idea of allowing the runners ample time to recover. The runner's only area had tables and seating where participants could sit and eat their pancakes, bagels, and chocolate milk. Sure beats sitting on the curb after running for 3 hours. I was very happy to have a chair to plop down into while regaining my composure. Once in the family reunion area, there was a live band, a large massage tent, and an even larger stretching tent. Finishing on Hayward Field was great. I don't know that there are prettier gates on the planet than the green iron gates that mark the entrance to the track. Of course it may just be because I was hurting a lot as I approached the finish. The course was very well laid out with just enough elevation change to keep the legs from getting too stale on continually flat terrain. I could have done with a little less concrete path, though. There may not be the huge crowds in Eugene, but the fans that were out there understand running. I was never told 'You're looking great,' or 'You're almost there,' (even though I still have the last 10k to go). Rather there were signs such as '6 miles to beer,' and 'Go Random Stranger, Go' to keep us amused. With the way the course is looped, spectators have the capability to watch their runners at several points without too much traveling on the congested roadways. The cheering spectators in Hayward Field, lining the track and filling the lower portion of the grandstand were great. I have never heard a field of runners get so quiet so quickly as we did for the moment to honor the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. Rather than set a somber tone, the memory of what happened in Boston just 2 weeks prior was handled in a way that gave us (I talked to several runners after the race) a sense of pride to be running our own 26.2. Other than our shuttle bus taking a few wrong turns on the way back to the hotel, this event went great. I highly recommend this race to anyone.
B. C. from Medford, NJ (5/7/2013) "Perfect Day" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I traveled from N.J.to Eugene to cross off Oregon and was very pleased with my decision! Most of the 'cons' from previous years comments were addressed. The expo was just the right size, easy to find, no crowds, free parking and just enough shopping. The volunteers were very helpful with my questions as an out of town guest. We ventured over to Hayward Field to get a feel for the finish & to try & figure out spectator parking for race day. There is so much history here and it was great to run in the foot steps of legends. We found 'Pre's Rock' and even met one of Steve's college professors who knew the history of his accident. Eugene was a great town to stroll around and have lunch. Props to the staff at The Holiday Inn Express in Springfield. We had food & grab bags at 4:00 a.m. and were walking distance to the shuttles. The buses were great and dropped us in front of gear check near the start. The tribute to Boston was touching just before the start. The corrals and wave start were perfect. Props to the Cliff Bar Pace Team who was very motivating and dead on with the splits for all 26.2 miles. Crowd support was good & the weather was perfect. Plenty of water stops, pot-a -potties and even some music on the course. Con: My wife had a terrible time getting to the finish despite leaving our hotel at 8:30. The road closures were not defined the night before, she got lost and could not find parking. She missed my finish and was a basket case when I found her.This is tough because parking is so limited near the finish. Spectators were not allowed on the shuttles as part of the extra security from the Boston Marthon experience.Not sure how an out of towner could have handled this any better. All in all a great race!
J. S. from Chicago (5/6/2013) "Good Race for a PR" (about: 2013) 2 previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 4 I registered for this race after reading about it in Runner's World. Pros - 1) The course is relatively flat. I think some of the comments are a little exaggerated on how flat the course really is. There are definitely sections that are rolling, and much of the course is at least at a slight incline. However, there are many downhills to compensate, and the largest hills on the course are not very big. 2) The course is very scenic. I had never been to Oregon, and the scenery is truly unique. The many bridges along the course were a highlight for me. 3) I thought they did a good job with the aid stations. This is an area most runners complain about, but I think they got it just right - about every other mile until the last 4 or 5 miles, where they had it every mile. Most of the aid stations were manned by kids, and they were super professional and helpful. Cons - 1) The concrete was a very real challenge. Many of the comments on here echo this, and for good reason. I should have trained on more concrete, but my focus is always to make it to the starting line healthy. My advice to anyone running this race for the first time would absolutely be to get some concrete training in - your legs will thank you for it. 2) I'm generally not a fan of mixing in the half and full marathoners. Because the course is open for 7 hours for the full, you have quite a lot of half marathon walkers coming in to the finish around the same time as most of the mid-pack full runners. At the end of an exhausting race, the last thing i want to be doing is dodging walkers. There were people around mile 25ish trying to separate them out, but it didn't seem to be working very well - something to work on for next year. 3) I'm not sure what happened with the 'Running with Legends' theme. It's all over their website, and even on the back of the medal, but if it was actually represented on the course, I never noticed it. I thought each mile marker was supposed to be labeled with a Eugene legend. If they were, it didn't stand out. It's a cool theme, so they should put more emphasis on it. Overall, it was a good race - can't complain about a PR, and this is definitely a PR friendly race. A little hard on the legs and sometimes congested, but overall pretty good. Worth running once.
George Tchakanakis from Chicago (5/3/2013) "BEST CROWD SUPPORT" (about: 2013) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Eugene Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 OMG what a FANTASTIC marathon. I am in the process of running a marathon in all 50 states. I had Eugene picked out for my Oregon state and it was such an emotional experience running into historic Hayward Field. I am not built for speed. My finish times are around 4:20 but at the Hayward Field moment I sprinted like a Jamaican Olympian and ran out of breath and at the same time I was engulfed with emotions! The crowd support was out in force. There must have been hundreds of children eagerly waiting for a high-five. Adults were cheering on every single runner it seemed not only their significant runner! Most had Oregon hats/t shirts/jackets on. Many had creative signs and noise makers...they were all simply and genuinely happy to be there to cheer us all on! This was my 59th career marathon and it takes the cake for crowd support. The race director Richard also was great in communicating information about the race when I called him. Also the feed zone had fresh made to order pancakes, bottles of chocolate milk, bagels with peanut butter in little dixie cups, cookies, chips. It was a great race all the way around. Track town did it right!
D. S. from Tualatin, OR (4/30/2013) "Great for first time marathon" (about: 2013) First Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This was my first full marathon, but I've done several halfs. They could not have organized this better. The course was flat and great for a PR. The city gave us plenty of room on the streets. About 1/3 or the course was on nice, wide bike paths along the river. The crowd support was amazing. Eugene loves their runners. Some of the signs the students made were hilarious. 'Run quieter, I'm hungover.' The finish might just be the best of any marathon. running into legendary Hayward Field with a stand full of people cheering and seeing yourself finish on the jumbo-tron was incredible. They even had a live link on the website to watch the finish. There is nothing like making it back to the hotel room, pouring a glass of champaign and watching more runners come in.

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