5/5 Stars

The scenery was amazing from start to finish. Being on pavement the entire time (I think) was nice, as I prefer minimal terrain. I loved the photo backdrops at the race finish with the PR, BQ, 13.1, and 26.2 signs.

I did PR, by nearly two minutes!!

Scenic, nicely paved/smooth, wide, comfortable hills with well marked aide stations and fun motivational signs provided by Revel since this wasn't the average spectator race course.

I did this half as part of my full training. The gorgeous, downhill course and PR was a nice boost to keep me motivated as I enter the hardest part of my full training.

Make sure to arrive early for the shuttle buses and make sure you get on the right one (full vs half)! And please make sure your family knows to catch shuttles early as they are not on a set schedule and generally leave together in clusters. I witnessed distraught family members miss their loved ones finish because they failed to take earlier shuttles.

Took photos at the backdrops with the PR sign (I will be back in an attempt to get a photo with the BQ sign!!) and watching other people finish, cheering them on with the Revel provided cowbells and inflatable noise sticks which was a lot of fun. I am from Portland so I didn't have to travel far :)

3/5 Stars

Beautiful race morning. Nice cool temp. The setting moon during the first few miles was picturesque. Running on the shoulder of a highway with big rigs was not great.

No PR but ran 3:01. Got my BQ.

Downhill! Nice but didn't like running on the shoulder of a highway.

I run ultras and had finished a 100 miler 5 weeks earlier so my marathon training was several recovery runs after getting back to normal from the 100. Have never run a downhill marathon. Being from FL, I'm good with heat but have no real hills to train for such a course.

Find hills and practice running a lot of miles downhill. Get your quads accustomed to it.

Came from FL for business. Checked out parts of Portland. Very nice city.

5/5 Stars

Originally I was signed up for the half (with my wife) but in April I missed a BQ by 31 seconds, so I switched to the full in hopes of getting my BQ. Despite getting up at 1:30 am I felt pretty good. We jumped in the van and headed to the bus loading area which I would say was the only part of my race day experience that wasn't worthy of five stars, but it was a decent experience and I'm sure that's a detail that will come to together with time. (We didn't know where the different busses loaded but after a short time and some walking around we figured it out, ultimately no big deal) When we got to the mountain I was on the first bus so the porta-potty situation was great, but things got hectic real quick and unfortunately, I had some GI issues. But after three trips to the porta-potty, I was ready to go. So off we went!
I loved the course! The volunteers at the aid stations were awesome and the view was spectacular! I felt good but was still having GI issues and I had to stop 3 times the first 15 miles and was really close to throwing the towel in on the BQ time. I was having such a great race and was really enjoying it besides the porta-potty issues. My thought was if I'm not going to make my time I want to enjoy the race and the beauty around me, so I decided to forget about the BQ and just run my race. When I got to mile 21 I realized that I was still within reach if I didn't have to stop again, and I was feeling pretty good, so I started figuring out what I need to do to get my BQ.
My BQ time is 3:25 and my current pace was going to be either right on or I was going to miss it again by less than a minute. We drove the course so I knew that I was going to have a little uphill running, so I was thinking that how I handle mile 23-25 is going to be huge! 23 was close to flat and I finished it with a 7:46 pace, a little slower than what I wanted, but then mile 24 was back down and so I was able to pick it back up and run a 7:36 pace. This is when I started to get emotional because I knew that how I was feeling and how I was running that this was possible! This was my 6th attempt at qualifying and have never felt this good this late in the race, but now I was facing my first mile that had a net incline. It wasn't much but after running 24 miles it doesn't take much, but I was able to run a 7:54 and keep it close enough to my goal pace of 7:45 to keep my hope alive! When I reached the one mile away timing mark I looked at my watch and I had about nine minutes. I knew unless I blew up that I was going to do it! This seemed like such a long mile!!! But I was really cruising or least I felt like I was. I remember saying "where is the finish line" and a spectator heard me and said "you'll turn left right up here and then you will see it" That was needed! I get around the corner and see the finish line and things got a little blurry. Soon after I was crossing the finish line stopping my watch and then my legs totally gave out and I went to the ground. I heard "we need a medic" and then I saw my wife running toward me and yelling "YOU DID IT"!!!! What an epic moment! The tears were coming down as they put me in a wheelchair and carted me to the medical tent where they took my vitals and drank some fluids recovered a few minutes and was up and celebrating my 3:22:13 BQ!!!! My last mile was a sub 7:30! I have never run that fast that late in a race.. Thanks for such an awesome race!!!!

My time was 3:23:13 which was a 2:28 PR and yes I BQ'ed

It was awesome!!

My focus was the long run. I ran 20 miles every weekend in June and the first week in July before I started to taper. And I trained low for most of them. Then I ran a 15-mile long run and then I did a half marathon the weekend before as a tempo run. The week of the marathon, I only ran every other day and they were just slow 4 milers.

I would do more downhill training next time.

Stay as close to the bus loading area as possible, don't overrun the first five miles (it's easy to do) Bring layers to the start and shed (if need be) right before you line up, don't try any new cool foods, stick with what you know.

We went to the coast before and afterwards, we went to silver falls and walked around portland (Voodoo doughnuts, Salt and Straw, Stumptown Coffee) . We are from Oregon but my sister flew in to watch so we took her to see sights.

4/5 Stars

Pros:
enthusiastic staff
The 3:35 pacer from wave 2 was awesome! I ran with her and did a 3:34.
Well organized buses to timberline start area
Start was not crowded
Regular water and poweraid stops
Good signs
Well marked course
Beginning first 5 miles in the state park were scenic and the last mile through rural neighborhoods was interesting.
Cons:
From mile 5 to mile 25 we ran along the shoulder of a Major highway. This was not cool. This year the race was small, but if the race gets bigger you will really need to block at least one lane or choose another route.
It would be nice to have some clocks on the course. My watch died so i wasn't sure of my time.

No, but I did the best I've done since I broke my ankle 6 years ago. It was a post traumatic injury PR.

Pleasant start and finish... not crowded, but there were enough people to talk to. The middle 20 miles on a busy highway were dangerous.
The last 5 miles were rolling hills, not downhill.

I ran about 40 miles per week. I didn't do any track work due to the heat in no. Carolina. My longest run was 21 miles. I cross trained twice per week doing long hikes, swims or yoga.

This course required some self discipline. People who went out too fast on the initial 5 miles of extremely steep terrain became injured. Hold back a little at the start. From 5 to 16 mikes try to maintain a fast pace on the 6% grade. Hang on for the rolling hills.

After the race, we hiked in Ecola State Park (Cannon Beach) then took a Columbia River boat ride in Astoria then hiked Mount St. Helens and finally explored museums in Portland. Then we returned to Raleigh, NC.

5/5 Stars

Watching the sun replace the moon through the tall trees on Mt Hood was spectacular. I started in the first wave. It was cool, but not freezing cold. That made for an awesome start! I trained well for the downhill so I was just sailing down the mountain. I watched Coach Paul's race strategy on FB live and followed his advise. It was perfect. I got my BQ!

I qualified for Boston and I didn't have to push very hard at all so I am in a great place to recover a bit and start my train up for Chicago (my plan was to BQ at Hood and PR in Chicago) Mt Hood is a FAST course.

The course was gorgeous! Most of it was shaded and cool. A few miles at the very end had some full sun, but I didn't feel uncomfortably warm (I'm also from Florida though) There are very few turns which I think is very good for maintaining a fast pace. The last 10k will feel more challenging likely causing a positive split.

I live in Florida so I did my downhill training on a 3* decline treadmill and some bridge repeats. I use the Jack Daniels Running Formula and did my downhill training at marathon pace during my quality workouts. I did end up running significantly faster on the steeper parts of the course, but my legs and hips felt completely fine. (My peak run volume was 65 miles per week)

I believe the key to my success in this race was training at faster paces, increasing my run volume (mostly easy pace miles) and getting longer (6-15 miles) downhill efforts regularly.

After the race I visited the Japanese Gardens And Rose Test Garden. Also saw the world's smallest park. I had the best dessert at Papa Haydn. I really wanted to get a picture in front of the "Keep Portland Weird" sign. Next time for sure!

Went down by the river in Downtown Portland for my shakeout run before the race and it was absolutely gorgeous!

3/5 Stars

No

Felt very dangerous running on the shoulder of the road in the same direction as traffic.

It was not at all cold and did not need any extra clothing or gloves.

Alabama

2/5 Stars

Start line, the scenery and the quiet during the first 18 - 20.

No. My PR's were 40 years ago. I am already qualified for '19.

The first 18 - 20 idyllic, grand, big beautiful. Last 6 - 8 a nightmare being blasted by 50,000 lb. big rigs three feet away. HORRIBLE!!! The finish was a disaster. No chocolate milk - I am sure all the half marathoners had enough, made to STAND IN THE SUN FOR 45 MINS. waiting for a 10 mile shuttle ride. This is the worst shuttle experience I have ever had in a point to point race. BAR NONE!!!

Standard program of distance, hill and speed work.

Do the Seattle R & R.

Went home.

4/5 Stars

Perfect weather! As a vegan runner big disappointment at the finish line where only option was a banana. Please consider healthier options than donuts and pizza!

No! Not enough downhill:(

Beautiful scenery -except the part on the highway. More hills than I expected, which is fine. I love hills -just not a typical Revel;)

Training was good -would have trained a little more had I paid attention to the published course description;) My fault! I kept thinking "it's all downhill":(

Do it!!!!

Massage at the lodge spa!!
Our group came from Pasadena, CA

5/5 Stars

About half way through I realized I had trained hard enough to finish strong. It was a great feeling. I was worried about the downhill portions, and they ended up really pushing me along. The weather was really great and everyone was awesome.

Yes, I did PR, but that's not saying much!

I did the half. It was great, and I loved that we had a full half of the highway. The course was beautiful. I do wish there were more views... there were a lot of trees that blocked any kind of majestic scenery. But the trees themselves were pretty great! The elevation didn't seem to bother me.

I was pretty concerned about my knees on the declines, so I ran a lot of hills (up and down) during my training. Plus I did pretty regular weight training: squats, curls, extensions, etc on a machine (high rep, medium weights). Lots of lunges, biking, too. That all seemed to work pretty well for me.

I read somewhere that the declines could be helped with a shoe with a heavier rubber sole. So I broke out an old pair of asics which I had shelved years ago. They worked great, but I also wonder if I could have just used my regular new balance, which are far lighter. I also felt that getting great sleep 2 nights before helped me a lot, since I couldn't sleep at all night before. I ate a lot of pasta the two days before. Don't know if that helped or not.

I went to Powell's for about five hours the day before. Loved it, as always. Also went to the art museum, and to the Fishwife, an excellent seafood restaurant in North Po, before and after the race. I traveled from Ohio for the race

5/5 Stars

Great weather , love over hearing the pre race conversations on the bus on the way to start line ...

Yes!!!! Managed to finally get sub 2, by a hair , but still a sub 2....beat my best time by more than 3 minutes

Beautiful, except for miles 11 and 12... running along the highway was a bit daunting, however did get a cool picture of me with a semi in the background

Training was sporadic , I had too many interferences and personal issues , was initially signed up for full, but did not feel properly prepared so I dropped down in distance ... my advice is do the work , schedule the time and be ready to fully make the commitment ...

Run in the moment and don’t get discouraged ...

Lots of sightseeing, hiking and nature healing ... went spelunking at the Ape Caves, took the 1 mile miracle lift up mount Hood , drove to Mount St Helens, drove to Oregon coast lighthouses and beaches .., hiked to water falls , visited brewery’s ....flew in from Los Angeles