This was my 6th marathon in 4 weeks and the emphasis was on WALK, rest & enjoy! The fact that I didn't need a car was a real bonus!
Stayed at Country Inns & Suites by airport. Best complimentary breakfast ever. Has a pool & hot tub also. Very helpful staff.

I started at the back of the pack as I'm slow. The person who had a problem getting around walkers needs to learn how to develop an exit plan: look ahead, move around, twist at the shoulders, suck it up and get going. No one is there for your convenience.

OK, so you had to walk a bit @ expo and you saw an industrial area. WOW!Like cities that aren't afraid to show you good, bad and ugly. Did New Orleans earlier this year. That's life.

Loved the all-female band at top of hill before going over bridge. They were having a good time also,so I stayed a bit, enjoyed music and took pictures. Really dislike bridges because of concrete. Man alongside me heard the comment and educated me about the history of the bridges. Perspective changed. Got good photos also. Guy in red was a very enthusiastic cheerleader. Saw and heard him often. Food! Lot of it and a variety @ my 6:37:05 finish! Slower runners don't usually experience that. Nice touch with students involved in handing out trees, roses and pins...(lost mine). A big area to greet and hang out for a bit was really nice.

As was said earlier, this was a marathon, not a party. Be prepared or just suck it up and do it! Who has the energy to listen to you whine? Enjoy and be thankful you can do it! I would highly recommend this race and suggest you stay if you can. I really liked what I saw.

This was my second marathon and I had a great time and got a PR. There is a tough uphill that comes at a tough spot (mile 17ish), but all kinds of downhill after that. The temps couldn't have been better, the crowd had good energy, and the volunteers / aid station workers were great.

Overall, this was an enjoyable marathon. Some aspects of it were exceptional: The expo was great and well organized. The start line setup was extremely well organized, with plenty of port-a-pots and, wisely, a wave start. The support from spectators was awesome. There were more finishers' 'goodies' than any other race I've done, from the nice shirt to the rose, the fir seedling, and the lapel pin.

There are a couple areas which, in my opinion, could use improvement...
1. I've never been to Portland before, but I can only imagine there must be more scenic areas of the city in which to run. They could probably eliminate the out and back by the RR tracks.
2. The finishing area was way too crowded. Why was the park area blocked off? We had to stay on the street by the park, and at the time I came in we were crowded 'shoulder to shoulder' all the way past the reunion area.
3. This isn't really an area for improvement, but the course is a little more difficult than some might expect. Personally, I hardly noticed the hill at the beginning, but St. John's Bridge really zapped me; it is a relatively long, steady rise. (But it might have just been me.) There's a relatively steep drop around mile 25.
4. Another aid station or two (mile 17?) wouldn't hurt. Extending the early aid stations to both sides of the street might help. More port-a-pots in the first few miles would help, too.

By the way, if you aren't from the West Coast, plan to spend a week in Oregon. We're from the Midwest and this was our first trip. It won't be our last. What a beautiful state!

Between the marathon and the Oregon scenery, this race is well worth the trip.

I enjoyed it all! The logistics were well thought out. The website is fantastic and upgraded continuously during race week. The wave start went real well. I was never crowded or slowed by other runners. How can anyone whine about the industrial area? It was sooooooooo flat and fast. I ran the St. John's approach, at my normal pace. This was better than the decline after mile 19. The aid stations had Ultima, Klucose and water, in that order. While I don't care for the taste, Ultima does the job, without the carbs. The gels and Klucose took care of the carbs. The finish was great and I had no problem with the reunion area. They gave a finisher's shirt and medal - and I already planted my finisher's tree! Names on bibs - nice touch. Race statistics on the website are impressive. Results available same day and photos in a couple days.

Some folks must have run a different marathon than I did. I've run 35 marathons, from very large (Chicago) to very small (Breakers) and I have never had to jump through so many hoops to get my number, chip, shirt, and bag. These were all separate pickups. The chip and number were in the same room. The shirt was down a parking ramp and the bag was in a third location. The early water stops were seriously understaffed. It was nearly impossible to get out of the finish area. The run was okay. It seemed that a lot of the course was run in industrial areas. It definitely was not worth the trip, and this is the first marathon I have run about which I can say this.

Gummy bears, Red Bull, and Starbucks Mud Pies.... I've never seen such an assortment of treats offered at a marathon! And that's just to name a few. I choose marathons primarily for the course but it's always an added bonus when the organizers go above and beyond to take care of the runners/walkers. What was really nice was that there was plenty of food at the finish line even for the back-of-the-packers like myself (not a given at all races).

I didn't find the much-talked about out-and-back portion of the course in the industrial part of town very appealing. (Though a friend of mine who's a Portland native actually likes it because of the people -watching opportunities it presents.) I wasn't too crazy about the long road leading to the St. John's Bridge either (also in an industrial section). However once I was on the St. John's Bridge, I soon realized why I made the trip to Portland - I come from America's finest city but the view from the bridge was enough to make anyone envious of any Portland native with access to do their daily runs there.

The finisher's medal is my favorite one to date... it's absolutely gorgeous. As mentioned in another post, the MAX light rail train makes getting around extremely convenient.

I completely agree with the comment that the drums would've been better suited towards the end of the race rather than near the start. The beats gave me such an adrenaline rush that I had to make a conscious effort to reign myself in and not to start too fast... you just can't help but get pumped up.

My first time to run/walk this marathon. The course has a good mixture of hills and flats. Running over the bridges is a fun twist to a road race. I received lots of "personal" encouragement from spectators because my name was plastered on my bib. Perhaps the race organizers could arrange with the host hotel to allow "free" access to the hot tub for hotel guests that participated in the marathon. Only letdown would be the generic design and basic fabric of the finisher's shirt. We'll be back again.

I was registered for Chicago but ran Portland at the last minute after following the weather forecasts in Chicago. Definitely was the correct decision. Hadn't trained for the hills (really only one that mattered), but well worth the trade-off given the perfect running weather in Portland.

Constructive suggestions:

* Bag check was difficult to locate, especially in the dark, and inconveniently located inside the start chute. Move it outside of the chute and mark it with lights.
* Agree with the comment about not enough access to inside the start chute. Resulted in a lot of runners elbowing their way toward the front to reach their pace groups.
* This one's very minor, but no way the half-marathon mat was .1 mile past the Mile 13 marker. Try to make sure distances are accurate.

Now the pluses, and there were many:
* Weather was perfect: cloudy & cool.
* Spectator and volunteer support were wonderful.
* Good-sized race; lots of runners but never felt crowded.
* Sufficient number of aid stations.
* Excellent finish area. Food was great - all the basics (water, sports drink, chocolate milk, bananas, other fruit, bagels), plus the ice cream sandwiches. Also liked keeping the finish chute area separate from spectators, although it was a bit chaotic at the exit. Setting up chairs for tired runners also a nice touch.
* Downtown Portland is nice and provides easy access to start and finish from several nearby hotels.

Overall, a good race. I'd run it again.

I love this marathon. This was my second marathon and second Portland Marathon, and once again I had a great time running it. The volunteers are wonderful, the aid stations always have what you need, and the organization allows you to focus on the running and not worry about the small details. I especially like the race details on the website showing where you finished in relation to the overall winner, the average runner, etc. With the available talent in Portland, the one aspect that could be improved would be the bands along the route. I can't wait until next year.

This was a great marathon. There were some parts of the course that didn't grace the city but I have found that in most places. The organization was generally top-notch and the little extras - a rose and tree to finishers - support, cheering crowds, and weather were all great.

The changes: move the baggage check away from the starting area so late checkers aren't blocking the start. I know this may have been dictated by construction downtown. Also, I found drinks at the water stations confusing at best. I had not used either of the electrolyte drinks in training so it was a crap shoot as to which one to try. I didn't like either much and I guess I would have preferred water and Gatorade.

Overall, I really liked the marathon and Portland is a jewel that I hope to visit again.