Kimberly Randall's Staging Area

The 2022 Portland Marathon was very well organized and produced, in a scenic city, with great race-day energy. While the course is fairly challenging, and not the fastest, I definitely recommend the event and would (likely will) run it again.

HIGHLIGHTS:
Production: You can tell that the organizers know what they are doing and care about hosting a quality, enjoyable event. Communication (emails, social media) leading up to the event was on point. Pre-race morning was extremely smooth, from bag check to portable toilet lines running efficiently.

SWAG: really great for an event of this size. We got 50-year anniversary Boco running hats with entry and the shirts are high quality and a great fit. Medals were great too, with a rotating centerpiece of 50 on one side and the rose logo on the other.

AID STATIONS: simply the BEST of any race I’ve run! Stations every 2 miles through the first half, then every mile through mile 26. Each station was on point with Nuun lemon-lime, water and toilets. The volunteers were excellent and that is no small feat with that many aid stations. Seriously, this got me through the last 10 miles of the event when the hills and warm temps were catching up with me.

Portland vibes and spectators: Portland is beautiful, and I enjoyed the range of neighborhoods, scenery, bridges, and positive, fun energy of spectators and volunteers. It seems (based on a prior review) there were many more spectators out this year, and it appears that the newly-organized race is only going to grow – rightly so.

Finish festival: waterfront views, plenty of grassy areas and shade, plenty of portable toilets, and good post-race fuel options. Immediately out of the finish chute, you received your medal and a rose; then water, chocolate milk, granola bars, and a sparkling CBD beverage were available. In the finish fest area more largely, they had live music, and complimentary local craft beer, Voodoo donuts, and pizza. What’s not to love?

DOWNSIDES:
Challenging (aka not flat and fast) Course: almost 900’ total gain and it felt like a lot of rolling hills with limited flat sections. The course also has a LOT of turns, and overall felt tougher than expected. If you train with a lot of hills, you’ll likely enjoy the course more. I did some hill training but not a lot and it definitely affected my performance. However, even with the hills and difficulty, the route was an enjoyable tour of Portland, actually offered a decent amount of shade, and variety of neighborhoods / districts.

Weather: the graphic on the race raves page for this race in 2022 is not accurate – the low overnight was 58/60, and it felt warm before the race even started at 7:10 a.m., and reached mid-70’s by the time I finished. This weekend was unseasonably warm for Portland, and not quite the pleasant fall racing weather I hoped for, however, it also wasn’t rainy, so not all bad.

Definitely an event worth running, especially if you’re looking for a fun, well-organized race in a beautiful city and don’t mind a bit slower time. I hope to be back again!

5 Stars for the quality execution of an event this size. Everything ran smoothly, including my same-day registration (no shirts left to purchase, but can’t fault that with a last-minute entry). The scenery is beautiful out at Mt Pisgah / Buford Park, and the weather in 2021 was perfect so the trails were not muddy, as I’m sure they are most years. There are definitely some solid uphill sections, so doing some training runs out there is helpful, or just some similar trails with elevation gain. Highly recommend the event!

Cascade Lakes Relay continues to produce a stellar event experience, and 2021 was no exception (this was my 7th year). The event is very well organized and well-run, even while having to navigate last-minute Air Quality issues, Cascade Relays adjusted the course so we could still have our CLR experience.

Reasons to run this relay: epic central OR scenery (starts at Diamond Lake, ends in Bend), challenging course (dirt and gravel forest roads, elevation gain, and altitude), camaraderie with other teams and overall awesome atmosphere. The event is also capped at a reasonable size, so you are not going to have the crowding issues of other relay events, like HTC.

Things to consider: build a team of people you want to experience a relay with (sweaty, stinky, sleep-deprived van time can be a highlight, with a great group of people)!
The whole event is at altitude and a lot of it on challenging terrain. The organizers may move the event to June for 2022 (should be announced soon), due to climate change and the ongoing issue of wildfires and air quality in OR; whether it’s in June, or end of July / early August, I expect CLR to continue to be a great event.

Definitely consider CLR if you are looking for an awesome relay race experience!

CIM was a fantastic experience for my second full marathon! The weather was perfect, the course was great, organization excellent, all helping me to a PR.

Pros:
Organization – emails, race expo, buses/shuttle to start, were all executed flawlessly. The bag check was a breeze (thank you, volunteers!). The bus to the start made things smooth for those out of town (like myself). Although departing at 5 a.m. sounded (and felt) early, it was great to get to the start and have time to relax and get the anxiety down a bit. You have the option to stay on the bus where it’s warm until 15 minutes to start, or get off to use one of the plentiful port-a-pottys, and then get back on – or stay out and watch the sunrise!
Weather – a perfect day, cool but crystal clear, staying between 45* and 55*.
Course – definitely does have rolling hills, but they are mostly done within the first 15 miles which is pretty ideal. I enjoyed the coast into the finish in downtown Sacramento, and the hills were never too much (but enough to feel on the knees if you don’t regularly train on hills). Minimal turns, good crowds and cheering, wide streets making it fairly easy to run with 9000 other marathoners, and enjoyable running through various little towns en route from Folsom to Sacramento.
Shirt and swag – I loved the race shirt, and the fact that the female fit was actually long enough for once (I’m not even that tall!). Also I enjoyed the other goodies that I’ll acutally use, including the socks, belt, and head/neck band.
Aid stations: consistently placed every 1-2 miles, well-stocked and organized, all with Nuun first, then water (except for one where I couldn’t find water!), some had food, and 4 had Cliff gels.

Cons:
My only area of constructive feedback would be the finish line area and that, in general, I prefer Gatorade to Nuun. At the finish, I would have loved to have some electrolyte/carb drink right there with the water (Nuun tent was hard to find in a far corner), as well as something like oranges or chocolate milk. The warm breakfast sandwich was tasty (and I loved that they had a vegetarian option!) but a bit hard to digest, not having first found the simple carbs I needed. The delicious canned coffee drinks were a great plus, which I enjoyed after my stomach stabilized a couple hours later! Overall, the finish area felt crowded and less well-signed / organized than the rest of the event and race. Still a cool finish spot at the Capitol, though. And I loved having the palm trees in background of photos.

Overall, CIM is really well done, a great course, with a good mix of elite, fast runners and BQers, but also plenty of average runners like myself trying to break the 4 hour mark or just finish. I definitely recommend this race and hope to run it again myself!

Eugene is my hometown, but as I run more races in other towns/cities, I am consistently reminded with how wonderful an event the Eugene Marathon is. I have run the half the last four years, but since I train here, I also regularly run much of the course for the full. Having now finished two fulls myself, I can say I definitely plan to run the Eugene full, and anticipate it being a fast and enjoyable race.
Pros:
Finishing on Hayward Field – let’s face it, other than a race like Boston, I think finishing on the track at Hayward is top notch. It feels amazing to hit that track for the last .15, and there are always lots of spectators to cheer you to the finish!
Course – the race follows a nice mixture of city / neighborhood streets, going through the University of Oregon campus, and past the football stadium, onto the river path that hugs the Willamette river. It is overall very flat, with a slight incline miles 2-4.5, a couple hills (not too big though) at mile 8.5, and 14ish, and then small rolling hills along the bike path the last few miles (for the full only). Again, overall very flat and fast, and once more runners discover this as a good BQ course, I can see the participation exploding!
Fans – people in Eugene love running, and if they don’t run, they still appreciate it as the legacy of this small city. The crowd support /spirit is great for an event this size. From a guy playing an electric guitar in a field by the river, to kids and families drinking coffee and eating donuts, offering “free hugs,” the crowd adds a fun element to this race.
Finish line – the finish area is excellent. Rather than a street curb, you are ushered onto the artificial turf soccer fields, where hot pancakes, live music, and usually plenty of sun greet you. The beer tent is great, though you do have to buy your beer (maybe one of these days they’ll change that!). Also, plenty of refillable water stations, and the last two years part of the finish line swag is a water bottle.
Organization – I feel this is a well-organized race, and at the same time, it is my hometown, so it’s more familiar to navigate.
Cons:
Shirts – the shirts could be better! They are fine, good quality Nike t-shirts, but I’ve been disappointed that 2 of the last 3 years were white. Also, I consistently feel that the shirts don’t fit quite right (no matter the size) – the female ones are just not long enough. I feel like the shirts could be better in order to match the overall quality of this event.

Highly recommend this event, to anyone from a first-timer, up to anyone trying for a PR or even a BQ, this is a great race!