Portland Marathon Report

The Portland Marathon has been on my pocket list for a while. I actually signed up last year, but due to a conflict with Ironman Arizona (IMAZ), I had to cancel and decided to make it happen this year instead.

Overall Impression

The event was very well organized. The Expo was great — it felt refreshingly old-school, with printed ads and materials instead of everything being digital like post-COVID events. Red Bull was definitely the crowd favorite

Hotel

I stayed at the AC Hotel, just a 2-minute walk from the start line. Super convenient — I got to wake up at a normal time and stroll over to the start.

Airline

I flew Alaska Airlines, just like I did for Oregon 70.3. Smooth and easy.CourseThe course reminded me a lot of the LA Marathon, with about 900 feet of elevation gain. The big difference was the weather — Portland was much cooler, which made the run more comfortable.

Weather

It started out chilly, around 50°F, and warmed up to the low 60s by the time I finished. Perfect running weather.

Race Day

After my disappointing OC Marathon, I really wanted to get my confidence back. I didn’t set a time goal this time — the focus was on executing my nutrition plan (Maurten every 30 minutes) and earning that free beer at the finish line.

I felt my legs were heavy even before the start — maybe the Chipotle dinner the night before wasn’t the best idea… too much time spent on the toilet that morning . I started conservatively to make sure I had enough energy in the tank for the later miles.

The crowd support was amazing — tons of cheering, music, and energy along the course. The volunteers were awesome too, with plenty of aid stations and porta-potties.

Around mile 18–20, I started to feel some cramping in my legs. I tried to manage it by grabbing electrolytes at every aid station, but by mile 22 the cramps were coming and going. The final mile was the toughest — both legs cramped hard, but I pushed through to the finish. The moment I crossed the line, my legs completely gave out, and I went down. Two staff members rushed over and offered me a wheelchair , but I had to keep my pride and politely declined.

Results

In the end, my time was better than LA (3:45), and definitely an improvement over OC. More importantly, I regained some confidence and felt like I’m back on track. Overall, I’m really happy with how it went.