Thank you race officials for a solid race. Thank you medical staff who insisted on giving me an I.V. post race due to severe dehydration. (Only 2nd I.V. in 23 marathons :)) The med team was kind, caring and had a sense of humor!
If the dixie cups were bigger and I was smarter, I might have avoided the med tent. Race officials had no control over muggy temps. But after Boston this year, it felt reasonably cool.
Stay at Hilton across from start; You can relax in your hotel room until the final minutes before the race.

This was my first Marathon, and I did it for fun, and was not disappointed. This is a great destination race, and will grow to be even better if the numbers improve. A competing Rock and Roll one month earlier and a spartan race the same weekend probably hurt the numbers, but the race itself was a classy event.

It started with the Expo- Friday night had free food for all who attended and plenty of great booths. They also offered a super cheap price to prepurchase the next years race.

Saturday the farmer's market, booths, expo, Beer Festival, and bands made for a festive atmosphere!

Sunday the weather was a bit humid, but the course was great. Getting a chance to see the country and downtown, as well as the Columbia river in two areas. I felt the course was well supported in water stations, but the aid stations needed to be clearer. I missed having someone out with vaseline- so hopefully they add that next year.

Spectators were not as plentiful as I hoped, but the atmosphere more than made up for it. It was great to have Bart Yasso welcoming me in at the finish line.

The food after consisted of Fruit, PB, BRead, and Jamba juice. The best part was the ice baths! They have several kiddie pools filled with ice which as a nice touch!!

We received two beers on our bibs, and the Farmer's Market was selling flowers which my husband surprised me with after the race. Again lots of vendors, bands, and a great atmosphere makes this a great choice for a destination race.

I am signed up for next year's HM.

Pros:
o Festive/Weekend experience
o Expo
0 Great coordination and volunteer support
o Ice baths!
o Very nice medals!

Negatives:
o Shirts were made by Puma and sized really small. I got a females extra large and it will not even fit over my chest.
o Not as many spectators as expected
o There is a train track that runs on the course and did stop some people.

Vancouver USA had about 500ish participants. It had a very small race feel. They were motioning people to come closer to the start line since the corral was very empty. The staff was great and volunteers. The water cups were too small and gatorade too diluted. The weather was muggy and when the sun came out kind of decimated the field. Lots of runners turned into walkers in the second half. There are few supporters throughout the race but the ones that showed up were enthusiastic. Course is kind of boring since the first half is a long out and back along a less travelled road. A few hills towards end made the hot day worse. Overall, I'm glad I did the marathon but the heat made it not a fun experience. Possibly moving up the marathon a few weeks would be good.

I give high praise to Energy Events. This is well organized, well thought out race. I know 2012 was unseasonably warm but this still is tough course on most days. You need to be a real self motivator, there aren't many spectators and I found myself running completely alone for most of the race. The first half is nice and flat but the second half is kind of ridiculous. Too many turns, running on sidewalks sucks too. If you want to run a well put together but small local race this is a good one. If you're looking for a fast time stick with Newport or Eugene. Also, what's up with the dixie cups for water? Tough to stay hydrated slamming 2 oz. cups every three miles.

I enjoyed running this race, especially for its simplicity and well-organized structure. The course is fairly flat with a few small hills. The section along the Columbia River, Lake Vancouver, and Fort Vancouver were the highlights for me. As mentioned before, the water cups were small but was fine this year due to the cooler temps. Course had to be re-routed due to flooding, so I would look forward to even more scenic and wider areas to run on to accommodate both full and half marathoners. The finish chutes for half and full marathoners was also a pleasant surprise at the end, and the post-race eats and drinks were very enjoyable. Volunteers were also plentiful throughout. It's a race I would do again, as it has even more room for improvement in the coming years.

For a first time event, this was a really great race.

The first half of the race was very fast and flat with an out and back.

The second half was more scenic, through the fort and down by the river.

At around mile 15, I started to run into the walkers on the half marathon. While this seemed like a major inconvenience, my two fastest miles actually ocurred here as I sped up to get around all of them, so I guess I can't complain!

Just to make sure you knew you were running a marathon, they through a nice big hill at mile 20 and another smaller one around mile 25!

Pros:
Flat fast first half
Challenging second half
Good organization
Jamba Juice at the finish!
Vancouver and Portland are wonderful cities!

Improvements:
Mark the pillars!
Different start time for the half??
Split times at the half point?
The distance after mile 26 seemed off, I had it measured at .4 miles instead of .2 and my time reflected it?

The most important aspect of a marathon is the course. Forget about the expo, medal, crowds, shirts and other give-aways. What will keep people coming back is the course.

The organizers made some BIG mistakes on the one including having uneven concrete sidewalks as part of the course. Running in a pace group of 10-20 made this challenging. Runners were having to dodge metal dividers/barriers, I almost fell after being tripped up getting back on the side walk after crossing an intersection. As part of the 3:20 pace group we were held up at a train crossing and lost 2 minutes. Our pacers tried to make up the time but several in the group including myself were not able to regain that lost time.

My advice to the organizers - please pay more attention to what is really important to runners, that is the course.

This was my 12th marathon, and my fastest ever. Though my training definitely contributed, the flat, fast first half of this course - and the several small rolling hills on the second half - felt like the ideal recipe for success.

Other pros:
" Small field
" Good range of pace groups
" Festive finish line party
" Varied course scenery - first half was quiet along a lake/nature area, next section through town, next section by river/fort
" Helpful course volunteers

Opportunities for improvement
" Post directions to bag check area near host hotel
" As other runners have noted, put flags or cones on cement posts (there were many of these in the sidewalk/path sections of the course, and packs of runners made them difficult to spot until too late)
" Mark halfway point
" As other runners have noted, change start times so that marathoners don't get stuck in half marathon walkers at mile 16 or so
" Ask volunteers at the finish line to be more assertive handing out medals and blankets - I had to ask for mine. Not a big deal for me, but could be for first timers
" Post signs to finisher photo area - I didn't know there was one until the next day

I've run several inaugural races, and this one was by far the smoothest. I'm looking forward to next year when hopefully everything is fine-tuned!

I was very impressed with the organization of this race. Having run over 50 marathons, the organization of this race ranks in the top, for a marathon of this size. Logistically, this was an easy marathon to fly into, stay at host hotel, and drive to local attractions. There were ample pre-race communications, even included a flood update as they had to tweak a little of the course at the last minute- and even re-certified it. The race had great amenities I thought, and aid stations were plentiful.
I was not a huge fan of the course, but it was not bad. The first half was nice because there were only marathoners on it, however it was contained on bike paths with little scenery. The pace groups made this a bit tricky as they run many people-wide. You had a little of a crowd coming back into the city which was nice, then you ran into the half marathoners. At least the second half had some hills (a plus for me) but negotiating the half marathon crowd with some of the detours the race had due to flooding was tricky at moments.
I was very impressed with this inaugural event but do think if it grows, some course alterations may be needed. What I liked the most is that you can tell it was put on by runners. I like races of this size and this easily ranks in my top quartile. Thank you, race director and volunteers!

It was obvious from the updates on the event site, as well as the facebook page that the event was extremely well-planned. This is a logistically easy marathon, as you can fly into Portland and stay within walking distance of the start/finish. The expo and post-race events were incredibly well run (other events could learn from this one,) and the volunteers were great.

As others have noted, the shortcomings were the transitions to and from the sidewalks. From the course map, I (and probably most people) figured we'd be running on the road, or possibly on the shoulder. It was surprising to find out that perhaps 1/3 of the course was on sidewalks. Not only is hopping off and on the sidewalks slightly distracting during a race, but the cracks in the sidewalks, and overgrown weeds on the sides added a bit of weirdness to the course. I'm guessing crowding was probably a real problem for some, as the sidewalks are quite narrow. In addition, I know that the half marathon/full marathon traffic jam was made worse for some by the narrowness of the course.

On the positive side: a well-run event otherwise, and the course seemed to be well marked with accurate mile markers (a rarity sometimes,) and many, many aid stations. The tech shirt is pretty nice, and it's a logistically easy and inexpensive event. As I mentioned earlier, you get the idea that RD Brian and his team (including volunteers,) really poured all kinds of time and effort into the event, and I'm sure it will be a great marathon in the future.