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☰
Portland Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Portland Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.5 
Organization 4.2 
Spectators 4.3
Number of comments: 295 [displaying comments 31 to 41]
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M. A. from Beaverton, OR
(10/5/2014)
 "Over-hyped race" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 3 Portland Marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 The hype begins as soon as you go to their website, which refers to their race as the experience of a lifetime. I roll my eyes because the statement is almost laughable. Once you get past the hyperbole, you have a good race (not great) in a pretty hip city. Good weather for this year's race brought out lots of spectators. You get a good goodie bag although the expo needs to be in a better location. The finisher's jacket was a pleasant change from the typical t-shirt. | |
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D. M. from cheshire, OR
(7/5/2014)
 "Superb" (about: 2005)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Excellent marathon, my first one since 2002! I guess I trained at Andes of Peru, since I was a child I always liked to run at my dads farm fields en Yaquin, Pulunche,... etc | |
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A. C. from North Carolina
(5/1/2014)
"Excellent city, great race" (about: 2013)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I planned to run Portland after planning a trip with my wife to explore the city and surrounding areas months in advance. Three months before the race I was told I had a low-grade brain tumor that would need to be resected, which hindered my training (I had hoped to PR). With surgery scheduled for a month after the travel date, I was given clearance by doctors to run the race at a 'leisurely pace,' so I abandoned my hopes for a PR and decided to just enjoy the ride. What a ride it was! The weather was spectacular, as I understand it tends to be this time of year in the pacific NW. The leaves were starting to change and the air was crisp. The expo was fine, a little bit cramped and hot in a hotel basement, but the swag was very nice - 2 tech shirts (short-sleeved participant shirt and long-sleeved finisher shirt) and a neat medal. Also at the end there was a tree seedling which is about right for Portland, and a rose. At the start there were a few motivational words about the Boston marathon, and then a very cool national anthem which was sung by all of us thousands of runners (apparently a tradition that was started a few years ago when there was some kind of mishap with the planned national anthem). Great way to start a race, followed by a beautiful sunrise around mile 4. The first few miles head south out of the city and up into some leafy neighborhoods, with some gentle climbing. Then runners make a u-turn and head back through downtown alongside the Willamette waterfront. Eventually, downtown gives way to the Pearl district, and the Pearl gives way to a very industrial area where runners complete a somewhat lackluster out-and-back that is several miles total. A lot of people have complaints about this part of the course, and I do agree that it is a bit boring and I've never enjoyed out-and-back portions of a race, but Portland does have industrial roots and it's cool to see them as you run past rail yards, warehouses, etc. There is also plenty of entertainment along the way - DJs, bands, pirates shooting off cannons, and the camaraderie and spirit of your fellow runners. After this portion of the race, full marathoners turn right and head back through some shady neighborhoods on the way out of town, ultimately making their way down to St Helens Rd / Hwy 30, which travels northwest along the Willamette River towards the St Johns Bridge. This stretch of the race, miles 13-16 or so, were the worst in my opinion. Rather boring road, little shade, lots of people starting to feel the pain. Around mile 16.5, you turn off on a brutal uphill to take you up to the St Johns Bridge. The climb is painful but the reward is a spectacular view back downriver towards the Portland skyline, with the green hills rising up behind you and Mt Hood out on the horizon like a mirage. From this point you return to town, running along the bluffs on the north side of the river, overlooking downtown. There are some nice views, quaint neighborhoods, and great crowd support along miles 18-21.5. From 21.5 - 23, the course is sparse and fully exposed to the sun. Saw many people hitting the wall in this stretch. At mile 23 you begin to re-enter civilization, and come upon a short, brutal climb up to the Broadway Bridge, which brings you back across the river and into downtown. You wind through downtown until coming back to the finish, essentially where you started. Great crowds for these final two miles. Post-race support is standard, good, string cheese was a highlight. I found a coffee shop and punished their bathroom, then we made our way back to the condo. All in all I believe this a wonderful race, and Portland is a great place to stick around afterwards. It could be a pretty quick course if not for the two painfully-placed climbs. This was certainly not my fastest, for reasons already mentioned, but it was definitely my most meaningful. A month later my brain tumor was resected without incident, and I required no chemo or radiation. Onward to find that PR! (A general comment about Portland - this is probably the easiest city to visit without a rental car besides NYC. We stayed on the riverfront in the Pearl District and could easily walk everywhere, including public transportation which is abundant and mostly clean. We only rented a car to drive out to Multnomah Falls, which is a must-see.) | |
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E. S. from Seattle, WA
(2/12/2014)
"Great volunteers, well organized, easy course" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've completed 9 marathons and this is by far my favorite. It is very well organized and the volunteers are awesome! They line most of the course. The course was beautiful and was flat except for one large hill at St. John's Bridge. Water/fuel was more than adequate. The only (small) complaint I have is the reunion area. It's not nearly large enough to host the runners and their families. Other than that, great! I want to do this one every year. | |
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David Hoffman from Milwaukee, WI
(11/25/2013)
"A Distination Marathon" (about: 2013)
50+ previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I've done over 200 and this is one of the better ones. A great city with great restaurants. Great organization. Great medal. Two tech shirts. The course gets the job done going through the Chinatown Arch and over the bridge with a view of Mt. Hood. Almost continuous music with an enjoyable variety The Rosa Hotel was great and a block from the start. Did I mention the great restaurants?. | |
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K. K. from Anchorage, Alaska
(11/11/2013)
 "Great race bummer about the train" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 This race was great perfect weather only bummer is the train delay around mile 6. People were running in front of the train I even saw someone get hurt by crossing arm going up and people pushing. Host hotel was great along with places to eat and relax before the race. Runners were definitely awesome cheering each other on and chatting it up. I was in the around 4 hr group pacers were perfect. | |
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B. B. from Pittsburgh, Pa
(10/15/2013)
"Misplaced Priorities" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 It seems to me that this race is geared for the one and done 'bucket listers.'I really don't need all of the crap that I was given: two shirts (admittedly both very nice), a medal (ok, but I suspect that they are trying too hard to impress), a program, a poster, a coin, a medal, a rose, and a seedling. How about instead lowering the price (I paid at least $140 months before the event) and providing some real food on the course. The only food I saw were Dixie cups of gummie bears and pretzel sticks. I appreciate the neighbors who were giving out fruit. How about having a better course that doesn't include a long, narrow out and back so early in the race. For the second time in the race, I had to dodge and weave crowds with the first 8 miles as we ran along a bleak warehouse district. Also, I thought that the wave system was good, but there were clearly people over-seeded that I had to work around from the third wave. There are some very nice aspects of this race as well. Parts of the course are beautiful and I liked ,maybe the right word is respected, the tough hill at mile 16 to the St John's bridge. The finish was very nice, with cheering crowds and decent food choices. Portland is an interesting city with a good public transit system. Overall, for the money I spent I think that more could have been done to make the actual RUNNING experience better. | |
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T. C. from Minneapolis
(10/11/2013)
"Decent marathon but not as scenic as it could be." (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 5 Overall the marathon is a great destination event because of the surrounding area (Columbia River Gorge, Willamette Valley, Mt Hood, etc). It's a great 'bucket list' marathon. Three quick things that I need to point out: 1) it's not as scenic as it could be. If you look at the course map, it looks like you run by the river quite a bit but the view is obstructed by rail yards, etc. I was a bit bummed out. It was pretty industrial. We shared the road with vehicles in many locations as well so that sometimes annoys me because I don't like smelling exhaust. 2) though the race is organized well, I am only giving it three stars because of the packet pick up process. First, the expo and pick up are in the basement of the Hilton which is strange and the layout is not good at all. You walk down a ramp to get your bib # then back up the ramp to get your race packet which was just pins and a t-shirt (no bag). I think the location for the expo needs to change at a minimum. Wow. And they funnel ppl downstairs in single file order so it felt really congested. 3) I was really bummed about the Hilton (host hotel). They were not offering late check out!! With a 7AM wave start and the avg marathon time being over four hours, that gives ppl no time to get back and get showered/changed. They were telling ppl to checkout, leave their luggage at the front desk area and then when you get back, you can use the athletic club for showering. Seriously??? I've never had this experience with a host hotel. I begged the Hilton folks even for 15 mins extra but they said they'd charge me if I don't leave my room. I found a way to work around it and actually got an extra 20 minutes, thank goodness. But I was rushing and worried about getting a knock on the door. There are other places to stay that are just as close. TIPS: The city blocks are 1/2 of what a normal city block is so when you look at a map, don't worry about picking one that is six blocks away from the start/finish. The Heathman, Paramount, Monaco, Marriott Courtyard and Marriott are all good ones. | |
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J. S. from Long Beach, CA
(10/11/2013)
"Great city, below average course" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 As scenic and beautiful as Portland is, I was extremely disappointed with the course. A good portion of the race is through a boring industrial area with nothing to see, and the stretch along the busy highway forced most runners, including myself, to focus our attention on oncoming traffic while breathing in nasty car fumes. Again, beautiful city, very well organized race, a good amount of spectators, awesome medal, but uninspiring course. | |
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D. D. from Portland OR
(10/7/2013)
"Marginal Course and not what I expected" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Portland Marathon
COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Portland is a beautiful city, but you don't get to see that part of it in the marathon. The roads are rough, full of potholes and obstacles (we must have crossed 20 railroad tracks) and the only scenic part is the St. John's bridge. Why not show off Forest Park? Before the bridge you run through an industrial area with heavy traffic and lots of debris on the road. The last 2 miles zigzag through the worst parts of the west side and right before the finish you get to run through a homeless camp that smelled like a dirty urinal (why not feed them to get them to move?). The organization provided nice medals and shirts, but the finisher's area was horrible. They ran out of chocolate milk, had the wrong snacks, but made sure you got a rose and a tree. After running 26.2 miles you don't want to carry that stuff. For a town known for fitness, Nike, and Addidas, Bill Rodgers was the only 'celebrity' they could find? I expected more from Portland but got the 'Detroit' experience. |
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