Framed by the rolling vineyards and farmlands of northwest Oregon’s Willamette River Valley as well as by the majestic peaks of mountains including Mount Hood, Mount Jefferson and the Cascade Range off in the distance, this small Oregon city welcomes more than 1,000 runners every summer at the Fueled by Fine Wine Half Marathon, a race organized by Energy Events in conjunction with the Dundee Wine Growers Association.
As you might imagine in a town that’s perhaps best known for its many wineries and vineyards, the 13.1-mile course for the race shows off several of the city’s wine-growing areas, and even takes runners through some of the fields and vineyards to give participants a chance to see, smell and experience up close what a run through a vineyard would be like.
The race starts at Stroller Family Estate and from there follows an out-and-back course that makes a counter-clockwise loop along a combination of paved and gravel roads, dirt trails and grassy stretches that wind through the vineyards and farm fields just north of the winery where the race starts.
This area is known both for its vineyards as well as its wealth of places to stay and enjoy the Oregon wine country, from bed and breakfast inns to farm retreats. Once runners pass the mile 6 marker, the course gets very “interesting,” to say the least, as the course elevation rises some 500 feet between the mile 6 and mile 8 markers.
These miles, as well as the next few, offer some of the course’s best scenery as well, and take runners directly through vineyards where you can see the wine grapes on the vines up close as you run by.
Following the race, runners will get to enjoy the post-race party where they’ll get to sample plenty of Dundee Hills area wines. Race organizers add that many of the local wine personalities and people famous in the industry may run the race, so you may run alongside them without knowing it and get to meet them after the run.
The race is open to both runners and walkers, as long as they can complete their 13.1 miles within the race’s course time limit of 3 hours, 30 minutes.
