Sunday, April 25, 2021 – Wednesday, June 30, 2021 • Portland, OR • Course Map
Note: The 2021 race is a virtual event. Registration details are included below.
A few thousand runners and walkers cross the finish line each year at Portland’s Race For The Roses Half Marathon, 10K & 5K, which showcases the city’s downtown neighborhoods and waterfront park areas along the Willamette River that courses right through the heart of the city.
Run along a course made up entirely of paved city streets and a couple of bridge crossings over the river, the race is mostly fast and flat with some rolling hills, and is run as a benefit to support the local Albertina Kerr Centers nonprofit organization, which provides shelter for children and families in crisis in the Portland area.
Described by organizers as “scenic and fast,” the course takes participants on a tour of many of the city’s most notable attractions showing off both “halves” of the city: “one part metropolitan quirkiness, the other active outdoorsiness.”
Start & finish at Oregon Convention Center. From the starting line near the convention center, those running the half marathon follow the route out and back along Interstate Avenue toward Overlook Park and back to the Broadway Bridge, where they cross over onto the western bank of the Willamette and begin the run through downtown’s neighborhoods.
After a brief loop around Broadway and 9th Avenue, the course then turns left onto Overton Avenue and weaves through Portland before heading northwest onto Front Avenue and toward the turnaround point on Front Avenue around the mile 8 marker. After the turnaround point, runners retrace most of their steps, taking a few more turns, while heading back to the finish line, back at the Oregon Convention Center. This time, crossing the Broadway Bridge takes runners uphill instead of downhill, but no worries–the finish line awaits back at the Oregon Convention Center, where roses are given out along with medals for every runner and walker completing the race.
Race Weather & Climate
Nestled among the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest, within sight of the majestic Mount Hood and Washington’s Mount St. Helens in the distance, the city of Portland usually experiences mild to cool conditions in the early spring.
On race day (April 25), the average low is 44ºF and the average high is 63ºF.
Past Results
- 2019 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2018 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2016 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2015 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2014 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2013 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2012 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
- 2011 Races for the Roses Half Marathon Results
Course Map
See the race route map for the Race for the Roses Half Marathon here.
Starting Time
7:30 AM
Fees
- $40 and up for the virtual race
Registration
To reserve your spot in the 2021 running of Portland’s Race For The Roses Half Marathon, 10K or 5K race, register online at the event website here.
Official Race Website
Facebook Conversations
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