"Salmon" Street. It's a sign!
The Expo
It was held in the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower in downtown. It was a little bit unorganized. We picked up the bibs downstairs in a room that looked like a basement and had a few vendors. Then, we picked up the shirts and race bag upstairs, which looked like the typical mid-size running expo. The nicest thing is that I met a couple of running celebrities.
Official Portland Half Marathon shirt
Meeting Frank Shorter
Meeting Jeff Galloway for the second time in 35 days
The Race
The first letter of your bib tells you the corral you are in. The tricky part is to find out where our corral was located as each started on a different street. It was a little bit confusing. We just followed other runners until we found our spot, corral D is right by the World Trade Center. Our friends were in corral W, a couple of blocks from ours, so we didn't get to see them.
The weather was relatively good, in the low 50s with light rain. I had no problem with that. I was concerned about racing under heavy rain but it didn't happen until the end of the race.
We ran the first few miles through downtown Portland. It was crowded, elbow to elbow. We passed Chinatown. The atmosphere was excellent, lots of spectators and drummers.
We faced some hills around mile 2, passed Barbur Blvd at mile 3 and turn around back into town and up to N Front Avenue at mile 4-5. Then came miles 6-9, the most boring and looooong miles I've ever ran in my life. It was through Naito Parkway, some industrial area with no view. I was flat and it went on and on and on. I felt I was swallowing the fumes of the trains. Finally, I saw some balloons at the end of the road. It was time to head back. Another 4.1 miles along Natio Parkway. Oh nooo!
Then, I saw my friend Leni, who was running the full marathon on the other side. That was nice to break the monotonous run. Few minutes later, I saw someone running barefoot and thought "yes, I am Born To Run too, but I am not sure I could do it on this street. It's so dirty". Then, I saw a Pacific Islander runner wearing hardly anything ( no pants, no shirts), just tiny underwear, a long green piece of cloth covering the minimal and a leaf wreath on his head. Sorry, I am European. Hopefully, I am not saying something wrong here. LOL. It was just something different.
I picked up some pace around mile 11 when I realized that "this is it, only 2.1, a walk in the park". The last mile was the most interesting one along the course, back through downtown, amazing crowds, everyone is cheering, the announcer said "Diesel [mispronouncing my last name], you are almost there". This usually gives me a last push but there was nothing left. My finishing time: 2:10:41 (not a PR, but I was happy).
The Post-race
As soon I crossed the finish line, I was given a medal, a heat blanket, some roses and a fir tree. The variety of snacks available to us were remarkable. There were oranges, bananas, Greek yogurts, donuts, juices, water and any candy imaginable.
When I thought everything was over, were were given two sachets, one with a Commemorative coin and one with a pendant along with a second long sleeve t-shirt. Wow, this was nice!
Highlights:
- Lots of swag
- BEST post-race snack
- The volunteers and spectators were amazing.
Cons:
- Race course. Portland is beautiful. Why picking such an ugly race course? I've been told that the full marathon has it all. Maybe that's my next challenge in the NW.
- No food during the race except for gummy bears.
- Mile markers, not easy to spot
If you are running this race and you are vegetarian / vegan or simply like to try different food, check out PORTLAND VEGAN MINI MALL .
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