Eugene Marathon

Coming from Tacoma, WA, me and several folks from my running group were excited about this race for many reasons. It had the least amount of elevation gain compared to other spring marathons near us (Tacoma City Marathon, Capital City Marathon) around the same time, and it was the largest. It wasn't like Marathon Major large, but it had a good amount of participants and spectators. Finishing in Hayward Field, being in a running town, and having a road trip adventure also made it exciting. Overall, it was everything I wanted it to be. If I were to do it over, I'd probably register and book my hotel early. My group had planned to take the Amtrak train from Tacoma, but all the decently priced hotels that were walkable from everywhere we needed to be sold out early. We ended up driving and staying in Springfield. Get to the race early if you're driving because there could be traffic like we experienced. Make sure you get into the right corral. I found the course somewhat crowded up until the half marathoners split off. If I hadn't been in the right corral with others running around the same pace, I imagine it would have been difficult to pass people. Twice I found it difficult to get to an aid station because of how dense it was around me, but fortunately I had a hydration vest so it wasn't that big of a deal. The tracking system, which I think was new, did not work super well. Spectators were not getting updates. Didn't get chip time results for a while after finishing, which was a bit stressful because several us were wondering if our times were recorded. I had PR'd and I would have been mad if it wasn't recorded. Times did get recorded though, and photos were uploaded and available pretty fast. Finishing in the stadium was fun. Some folks had challenges with phone reception there. We got a nice tote bag & reusable plastic water bottle at the end. Some women from my group did not like the cut/fit of the women's race shirt. The unisex/men's shirt felt a little snug, but okay.

This is a good course for a first-time marathoner, and this city loves its athletes, so they come out to cheer. Organization at the finish festival could certainly be better.

This was a fantastically well organized and supported race. Volunteers were friendly, helpful, and plentiful. The course was very well marked, with roughly the first half through parts of Eugene and Springfield and the rest on bike paths along the river. Finishing in the re-built Hayward field was awesome, I can't imagine there is a nicer stadium dedicated to solely track and field anywhere. Expo wasn't huge, but appropriate for this size race. Pancake breakfast was great, thick fluffy pancakes Saturday (after 5k) and Sunday. Other post-race food was average, re-usable water bottle and bag were both nice. All in all a great race in Tracktown USA, well worth the trip if you're a 50 stater or just looking for a medium sized race in a relatively small/laid back city.