Rogue Marathon
Medford, OR
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Enjoy Southern Oregon’s downhill, fast and much-loved fall marathon. This scenic, point-to-point course follows the Bear Creek Greenway from Ashland to Medford. The Rogue Marathon is ranked as one of the fastest Boston Qualifiers in the Northwest and has a prize purse of $8000! The “hometown” Rogue Marathon is packed … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Oct 10):
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
| H (°F) | 55 | 81 | 63 | 86 | 61 |
| L (°F) | 48 | 55 | 52 | 48 | 43 |
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Not a “fast” course, but well organized.
This marathon is described as fast, and downhill. The description is a bit of a stretch. It’s a rolling course with a “net” drop. Yes there are downhills, most noticeable … MORE
This marathon is described as fast, and downhill. The description is a bit of a stretch. It’s a rolling course with a “net” drop. Yes there are downhills, most noticeable in the first mile with some smaller ones thrown in. The downhills are not gentle and are rough on the quads. With the downhills comes plenty of uphill to balance it out, so you don’t really reap the benefits. Lots of turns around corners also which disrupts your pace. The up and down and frequent turns forces you to use different mechanics constantly which can be taxing if you’re not prepared. Coming off of a 100% downhill marathon a couple of months prior I can confidently say this race was much harder in comparison. As I previously mentioned this course is not entirely downhill there is almost 800ft of elevation gain over the course of the race. During the first half of the race you’re doing some decent climbs that wear you out early on especially if you aren’t conservative during the descents. In addition there is some climbing towards the end of the race. Granted, the hills are small but when your legs are already trashed it’s a lot to handle. As far as the scenery is concerned it wasn’t breathtaking, just ok. You’re running through city streets with a good portion of the race being on a bike path. I was in the top 50, not fast enough to be in the front of the pack, but not quite middle or end of the pack either. So I was by myself for a lot of the race. I’m used to training alone and enjoy smaller races so that wasn’t a big deal for me personally. But if you prefer to be surrounded by other runners during the entire race and like crowd support and fanfare this isn’t the race for you. The event overall was well organized. Plenty of volunteers who genuinely appeared happy to be there. Course was well marked, aid stations were fully stocked, there were cash prizes, and after race festivities. Race swag left a bit to be desired. They only hired one race photographer for the whole event. It took a week to get photos, and they didn’t capture all of the participants myself included, and completely left out taking photos of the marathoners at the start line, only capturing photos of the half marathoners at the start. Marathoners spend more time on the course and pay a higher fee to participate, so the fact that we were left out was disappointing.The medal is ok, I think all finishers including the half marathoners received the marathon medal which I find odd and something organizers should consider changing moving forward for future events. I had a finishing time of 3:35:15, not my best, but proud of it given the challenge of the course. I’m glad I participated, but it wouldn’t be a race I would be quick to sign up for again.
Meh
I chose this race as a good Oregon option that was as close as I can get to California so it was drivable (Medford is close'ish to the border). I … MORE
I chose this race as a good Oregon option that was as close as I can get to California so it was drivable (Medford is close’ish to the border). I was excited about this race, had heard good things, but left disappointed…
To begin, the mile markers were off by 0.15 from the very beginning. Their 1 mile = 0.85 on my watch, 3 = 2.85, 10 = 9.85, etc. Seeing that Mile 1 be off and continue to be off completely wrecked my motivation, the last thing I needed was another short half marathon (see my entry on the San Francisco Half). So, I spent a lot of time walking, texting, studying their course map on my phone, etc. and continued to lose motivation.
The course itself was OK. It is a point to point which can be logistically challenging but it worked out fine. It started at a vineyard near Talent and you run a short out and back heading south before turning around and heading back north back to Medford, almost entirely on a walking/bike path. Scenery wise it was nice, though nothing spectacular.
I won’t say for certain if the course was short, but what I will say is that at Mile 11 there is a park and I may have accidentally went off course by about 0.10 mile and had to turn around…
Aside from that, the medal was the same one they gave to all distances. It says The Rogue Marathon. The ribbon also says The Rogue Marathon. There is NOTHING to distinguish the bling from other distances. Not really cool.
I doubt I would do this race again. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t an experience that I enjoyed.
Fast course but logistical issues
This is a fast point-to-point course in Southern Oregon. If you're looking for a good course to chase a PR or BQ in the Pacific Northwest, this could be a … MORE
This is a fast point-to-point course in Southern Oregon. If you’re looking for a good course to chase a PR or BQ in the Pacific Northwest, this could be a good option. It’s net downhill on a moderately wide bike path from Ashland to Medford. The only caveat for the course’s speed and difficulty is a slight uphill finish for the last 3 miles but it is still a very quick course, all things considered. Certain aspects of the race were well-organized – the shuttle to the start line was smooth and efficient, the bib pick up and finish line festival was lively and fun, and the course was well marked with mile markers (except for a misplaced Mile 10 marker on the half marathon course). The path can get a bit crowded at times since there are points where people are going both directions but since the race isn’t huge, this generally isn’t a big deal. The conditions were also ideal (crisp and cool, no wind) and the course was pretty scenic. However, there were two significant logistical issues. First, there were only 3 portapotties at the half-marathon start for 150+ runners. Second, there were supposed to be aid stations every 2-3 miles, especially since the half and full marathon shared a course. Unfortunately, the first aid station was not set up when the half marathon reached it and after that first aid station, there was not a single other aid station for the rest of the race (and just one first aid station around mile 8 or 9), which is something I’ve never experienced before. This race was fast and good in many aspects (I love the large prize purse and the fast fields it attracted) but I would not do the race again solely because the lack of aid stations is unfortunately a deal-breaker, especially if you are doing the marathon.
Great local marathon!
This was a nice small marathon, although the course profile shows a net loss, it didn’t feel that way, but in all fairness I was undertrained and probably just me. … MORE
This was a nice small marathon, although the course profile shows a net loss, it didn’t feel that way, but in all fairness I was undertrained and probably just me.
I feel like the race director really cares about his event and it shows!
Best volunteers ever!