Sunday, May 17, 2015 • Portland, OR • Course Map
A course that starts and finishes at Portland’s Tom McCall Waterfront Park, long stretches along the Willamette River waterfront, and a run across a pair of bridges with gorgeous views of the city — that’s what awaits the more than 8,000 runners who turn out each year for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon & 10K, which makes its 4th annual running in 2015.
The race is now part a group of nearly 30 “Rock ‘n’ Roll”-themed races that take place across the country and, with a pair of new races joining the series lineup in Spain and Scotland this year, increasingly around the world as well.
Like all of the races in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series of events, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half will feature live bands spaced out roughly every other mile along the course, along with cheerleading squads from local high schools as well as thousands of spectators from the local area joining in to cheer on the runners as they make their way through what is expected to be a fast and flat course through Portland.
Runners will follow and out-and-back course for the race that starts and finishes at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, a small, 30-acre park along the Willamette River that lies right along the Naito Parkway, just south of downtown.
From there, runners head first north along the Naito Parkway, beginning a stretch that will unfold along the riverfront for the next two miles. Once they reach the first turnaround point on Front Avenue, they’ll retrace their steps and head back south along Naito Parkway and pass the starting line area, heading toward the Portland State University campus.
After that, they’ll head across the Hawthorne Bridge and pass by the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry, and then head into the city’s neighborhoods on the eastern side of the Willamette River. They’ll encounter the race’s biggest hills between miles 7 and 8 along Hawthorne Boulevard, and later finish with a downhill stretch back into the park.
More than 8,800 runners and walkers crossed the finish line in both races combined in 2014, and the race has a course time limit of 4 hours for the half marathon and 2 hours for the 10K.
Portland’s Waterfront Park. (Photo by Sam Churchill/flickr)
Race Weather & Climate
Located near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers in northwestern Oregon, roughly 170 miles south of Seattle, Portland typically sees mild to moderately warm weather in May, a month that has brought record temperatures here as low as 36 degrees (in 1985) and as high as 103 degrees (in 1983).
On race day (May 17), the average low is 49°F and the average high is 67°F.
Past Results
- 2014 Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon Results
- 2012 Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Portland Half Marathon here.
Fees
- $80 for the half marathon, if registered by December 2, 2014
- $95 between Dec. 3 – January 15, 2015
- $110 between Jan. 16 – May 10
- $150 at the race expo, if not sold out
Registration
To reserve your spot in the late spring 2015 running of Portland’s Rock & Roll Portland Half Marathon, register online at the event website here.
Official Race Website
Comments
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