Timberline Marathon & Half Marathon
Government Camp, OR
- Marathon, Half Marathon
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Get ready for the most picturesque marathon and half marathon trail running course in the Pacific Northwest! The course completely circles shimmering Timothy Lake on single track trails that are absolutely a runner’s dream. This gem is nestled at 3,227 feet in the high Cascades and the views of Mt. … MORE
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Beware, horrible signage
This race was fun, hilly, muddy, and needlessly difficult to stay on course. This was my first half-marathon race, and I was excited to see what I could do especially … MORE
This race was fun, hilly, muddy, and needlessly difficult to stay on course. This was my first half-marathon race, and I was excited to see what I could do especially since it was going to be a fair distance longer than 13.1 miles (thanks to the way they set up the marathon and the half on the same course). I ran this back in 2023, so it may be different now, but being that this is a trail run, taking place on an actively being used trail system, you would think that they would make it *obvious* which trails are part of the race and which are not. I had never hiked in this area before, so I had no prior experience with the trails. But it would be common on this race for there to be two different trails at a turn and they stick the arrow sign directly in the MIDDLE of the two trails! So, which one is the sign referring to? You will have to guess! Not only that, but at the end of the race they had “finish line” signs to the left of a bridge, pointing at the bridge, with another arrow at the bridge pointing suggesting you should go over the bridge. Well going over the bridge would have been the wrong call. And you would have ended up running almost a mile out of the way (and all uphill) as I did. They *should have* put the “finish line” sign on the OTHER side of the bridge, so it was CLEAR that the sign was not pointing AT the bridge. Anyway, that’s just one horrible example. In all I probably got off trail 5-6 times and added a mile and a half to the already long “half-marathon” due to this awful signage. I did complain to the organizer about it, as did others, so hopefully they’ve addressed these issues in subsequent years. And lastly, there are far more hills on the race course than the race guide leads you to believe. The guide shows a big downhill at the beginning and a big uphill at the end, but that’s misleading. There are tons of significant ups and downs throughout the race. The race itself is in a beautiful spot, so it was worth doing once anyway. But also led to a total disappointing finish for what was my first ever half-marathon race. I would *not* do this race again.
Run through the woods
I'd walked a little around Timothy lake before and for some reason thought the majority of the run would be like that section (flat and smooth). In reality, almost all … MORE
I’d walked a little around Timothy lake before and for some reason thought the majority of the run would be like that section (flat and smooth). In reality, almost all the run is on more traditional trails, complete with the mud, puddles, roots, and rocks I should have expected.
It was pretty (though very wet). Unfortunately I went out way too fast for the conditions and blew my race out.
It really wasn’t that rough for a trail run, just make sure you pace yourself for a trail and not for flat packed gravel.
really nice views and enjoyable trails
first trail half marathon, and I'd say this was a pretty beginner friendly course. minimal hills, nice scenery, easy to navigate. would run again. MORE
first trail half marathon, and I’d say this was a pretty beginner friendly course. minimal hills, nice scenery, easy to navigate. would run again.
Beautiful trail race for newbies!
I've run over 30 marathons, but have never run one on a trail. This one was amazing! It's really small, but well organized. The course is mostly single-track trail, but … MORE
I’ve run over 30 marathons, but have never run one on a trail. This one was amazing! It’s really small, but well organized. The course is mostly single-track trail, but very “runnable”. The full marathon is 2 loops around Timothy Lake with very rewarding views of Mt. Hood! There are 2 significant hills on the course, but it’s mostly flat. If you want a great Oregon experience, I’d highly recommend this race!