Portland Marathon
Link to Web Site: portlandmarathon.org
Rating: 
Date of Run: 1 Oct 2006
Reviewed By: Foo
Comments: Definitely a very well-supported marathon. No half marathon, no relay. Just 8000+ marathoners. Outstanding local crowd support. Lots of cheering spectators. Countles people read my name off my bib and encouraged me on. 53 bands -- well, not all were bands, and not all were very good. A couple stick out in my mind. The drum corps in the narrow echoing downtown chinatown street in the first half mile. They were drumming an incredible bone-rattlingly loud round in triplets at nearly 180 beats per minute. Perfect running tempo. Once I got in step I really sped up. There was a light Brazil-66 style rhythm band at miles 7 and 10 playing Wave -- my favorite marathon song. And there was a pretty-good rock band at mile 18 just after the St John Bridge. Cheerleaders there didn't hurt either. More water and support than you could shake a stick at, especially around mile 20. And there were at least three city blocks of wildly cheering spectators at the finish. It was pretty good.
A couple monkeys thought that the course spent too much time in ugly industrial sections of the city. True.
The course is relatively flat, but the two hills (mile 2, which is pretty steep and everybody pushes up it too hard, and mile 16.5 before the St John Bridge) are significant, and signficantly placed. But mile 22's gentle downhill does keep you going when the going is starting to get tough. I just needed another 2.5 miles of downhill there to finish.
The bill it as the best-organized marathon in the west, and I don't doubt it. It's really was a lot of fun.
Watch out for the non-sanctioned group handing out beer at mile 24.5. That would be wonderful if it weren't PABST!