The Portland Marathon Presented by

OHSU Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is a public research university focusing primarily on health sciences with a main campus, including two hospitals, in Portland, Oregon. The institution was founded in 1887 as the University of Oregon Med ...

Health is an annual sporting event which takes place on the first Sunday of October in Portland, Oregon, first held in 1972. The race consists of a full marathon () as well as a half marathon (). The race starts and ends at the

Tom McCall Waterfront Park Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located in downtown Portland, Oregon, along the Willamette River. After the 1974 removal of Harbor Drive, a major milestone in the freeway removal movement, the park was opened to the public in 19 ...

at Salmon Street and

Naito Parkway Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjac ...

, and includes several bridge crossings and multiple iconic landmarks in Portland. The field has reached over 10,000 runners.

History

The race has been held annually since 1972 and is one of the longest-running consecutive marathons in the United States. The inaugural race was held on

Sauvie Island Sauvie Island, in the U.S. state of Oregon, originally Wapato Island or Wappatoo Island, is the largest island along the Columbia River, at , and one of the largest river islands in the United States. It lies approximately ten miles northwest o ...

and attracted 86 participants. The race route underwent various alterations in the 1970s and 1980s before solidifying on a course that traveled clockwise from downtown Portland to the St. Johns Bridge via Highway 30, and then down the bluff on Willamette Blvd before finishing back in the downtown area. In 1991, Japan's Hiromi Yokoyama set the women's course record with her time of 2:36:40 hours.Portland Marathon
Association of Road Racing Statisticians (2011-10-11). Retrieved on 2011-10-28. In 1997, the men's course record of 2:17:21 hours was set by German runner Uli Steidl. The oldest finisher was Mavis Lingren at age 90 in 1997. Following a misconduct investigation in 2018 by the Oregon Department of Justice related to long-time race management personnel, the City of Portland issued a Request for Proposals to solicit a new race production firm to take over management of the event. In January 2019 the City selected Brooksee LLC, producers of th
REVEL Race Series
as the new managers of the race. It was announced in July 2019 that Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) will be the presenting sponsor of the event for multiple years. The 2019 event featured an entirely revised route. The 2020 in-person edition of the race was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, with all registrants given the option of running the race virtually or transferring their entry to 2021 or 2022.

Winners

Notes

References

External links

Official website
* Marathons in the United States Sports in Portland, Oregon Recurring sporting events established in 1972 Sports competitions in Oregon 1972 establishments in Oregon Annual events in Portland, Oregon {{Oregon-sport-stub