I did 3 races Race weekend (2K, 5K and the full marathon) and considered doing the lumber jack challenge which included the 10k, but didn’t think me legs would tolerate the miles over the weekend (I was right...). 2K is Saturday afternoon and the first race to go off. Some sprinkling rain, nothing to cry home about. Quick race, took me about 10 minutes start to finish, mainly in the neighborhoods and flat. WHat needs worked on is there’s zero organization to who goes where. Walkers are in the front, runners are trying to weave around kids. I was just glad I didn’t trip and fall on my face while plowing over a kid. Great idea for a family fun race, but some sort of organization needs to happen for people legitimately trying to run this or doing one of the challenges.

First Ottawa Marathon for me and I came in from Washington State for it. If you’re bold, take advantage of the Lumberjack Challenge and do the 2K/5K/10K on Saturday and the Full on Sunday.

The Expo: At the Shaw Center, I walked there from my hotel. Held Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Picked up my bibs (kits in Canada) on Friday with no wait. Only swag per say in the bag was the shirts that you get for signing up. Good amount of vendors throughout the expo, even found my running shoes on sale, which was a perk.

Race morning: stay within walking distance to the race, parking seemed limited (also coming from someone who’s not local). I stayed what felt like a good 3/4 mile from the race. Gear check available, but not close to the finish if you thought about it and out of the way (off Lisgar and Cartier, which felt like a good 5-10 min walk in the opposite direction of where I needed to go to get back to the hotel).

Time: Full started at 7AM, Half at 9AM

Weather: cool, but warmed up quickly. I was the stupid one who forgot a throw away shirt and ended up dumping a good long sleeved shirt 14 miles in 😢.

The Course: some mild hills, but nothing to cry home about. It’d be nice to have some sort of course elevation map available, though I couldn’t find one on the website. You pass Parliament, the War Museum, War Memorial, Rideau and 24 Sussex. They did have ‘xtra mile’ crew at 35k and 40k to help get you through the last few miles. The last few kilometers were with the half marathon.

Aid stations: quite honestly, need some work. I feel like there was no real rhyme between the distances between them. I wish they would have been every 2K and based on prior reviews, this seems to be a recurring theme. I’d also argue that not everyone drinks Nuun (myself included). An idea would be to alternate Nuun and Gatorade/Powerade, I essentially went without electrolytes because Nuun doesn’t agree with my stomach what so ever.

The Finish/Post Race: needs some definite work. You were filtered into Confederation after getting your medal and cup of water/electrolytes. I finished in 4:49 and there was absolutely zero bottled water/chocolate milk etc in the food area for runners. Food was limited by the time i got there and was nearly out. Essentially half a banana that didn’t look good, half a bagel and bag of chips. There really needed some more options and if you’re going to hand out bags to put food in, it’d be easier to have it pre setup for runners to take and go

Part of the RnR series, though I think run by EDP. Registered for the half during one of the RnR flash sales so I paid 19 euro for the half and ended up making a vacation of it. Originally, race was suppose to be on Sunday April 28, but about 2 months before race day it got changed to Saturday, April 27 due to Spanish General elections. I didn’t realize this until Thursday before race day. I feel like there needed to be better communication with this. There was an email at one point, but with RnR, it’s difficult to decipher important emails from promo emails, so it it was it is

Overall, a male>female race (I’d say at least 60% male, probably more). First race where I’ve had an F on my bib indicating female runner.

The Expo: Held at IFEMA, easily accessibly by the transit system. Getting there was easy, figuring out where to go if you’re not local was difficult and put me in circles for a little bit. Some sort of markings on which way to go would have been helpful. Decent size expo, easy to get your bib, bags and shirts. Tech shirts, though I’ll probably never wear it. Local/European races at the expo, plus your typical runner gear stuff.

Distances: 10k, half marathon and full marathon

The Start: needs some work in terms of corrals going off. Corrals 1-3 went off at 850 after the elites, followed by 4-5 at 9:05 and then corrals 6-8 at 920. There groups were let out all at once. I wish they would have done a wave start (wave 1 with a few min break, then wave 2, etc). It was overly congested.

The course: takes you throughout most of Madrid and plenty to see. A little bit of hills the first half, downhill the second half. The first 16-17k, the half and full marathon are together, and then you split off, which helped with the congestion. The Europeans were fast so I feel like it made it harder to actually stay on my own pace. I nearly got plowed over a few times

Water Stops: you get actual water bottles, rather than cups. Double edge sword in my opinion. I wasn’t complaining because the water stops were at least every 5K, so they were fairly far between. Downside is I was trying to not step on them. Additionally, I nearly got pushed over with people trying to grab waters, to the point where I actually didn’t feel safe at a few of them. Gatorade at 1-2 of them, gels as well. Need to look at more water stops and water cups over bottles.

Medical: volunteers on rollerblades the entire race.

The finish: bag of food handed to you at some point, but you had to walk awhile for it, had water, food and Powerade. Medal also given pretty quickly. Fairly congested, even after you got out of the runners only area. Podiatry, stretching area and massages available

Overall: 3.5 stars. Need to work on getting the waves out better to reduce congestion, better communication, especially with date changes, and more water stops on course

First time doing the Shamrock Portland Race and I had a blast! I ended up registering for 2 races due to how spread out they were and the 5K was the first of the morning.

The expo: at the Oregon Convention Center with pick up Friday and Saturday. Easy to get to (I walked from my hotel), but can't speak from a parking stand point. Bit of a walk around some interior construction this year, but plenty of space once you were in the expo. Bib pick up was painless, just remember to have your QR code pulled up, as they scan it and assign your bib based off your distance there at the expo. Shirt pick up just as easy. I would bring your own bag though, there weren't bags passed out. Plenty of vendors and races to visit and if you're looking to buy stuff, keep in mind no sales tax in Oregon!

Race Start Time 8 AM

Location: downtown Portland along the river

The course: the 5k is out and back for the most part, though you due a bit of an outpouch by turning onto Taylor, then SW 2nd, followed by W Salmon before getting back on SW Naito Parkway Drive. A little bit of a hill, but nothing compared to what the 15K and half marathon deal with. 1 water stop that I saw on course, miles were marked and it's a fairly quick race!

Post Race: be ready to join in a morning long party. Plenty of food trucks, music, post race refreshments, beer garden, soup, etc. Medals for the 5K this year as well, that was new this year.

Overall, a fun race and an easy way to get the entire family involved if you didn't want to get in on the longer distances.

Did back to back races this year in Portland for my first Shamrock PDX race. I did the 5K first Sunday morning and then went right into the 15K.

The Expo/Packet Pick up: fairly painless process. I walked to the Oregon Convention center, but also fairly easy to Uber/Lyft there as well. Some construction on the interior, but plenty of vendors and things to do in the expo itself. Have your QR code that they email you (or from Active.com) ready as they assign your bibs there as you check in and they scan your code. Also be aware if you want to switch distances, do it leading up to race week or at the expo! Plenty of vendors, free food, free goodies, etc.

Race Time: 8:55 AM (the 5K started at 8 AM). I had time to hurry back to the hotel and switch bibs and change into a tank top, though I was staying within walking distance of the start

Start: Waterfront Park

Weather: 60s and sunny this year. I figure the one thing I never complain about is weather, because I can't control it

The course: Be ready for some hills the first 5 miles. The race takes you along SW Naito Parkway and to SW Barbur Blvd and it's pretty much all uphill the first 5 miles or so. Holy Hills Portland! From SW Barbur, you head into George Himes Park and get some good views of the city from up above once you hit the highest point of the run before you head down hill and along some of the winding road ways of Portland. On your way back, be prepared to see the half marathoners coming up the hills you're already done with, though their a few miles further along due to them adding some miles before joining up with you. The last few miles of the race are downhill, so overall your quads, hamstrings and hip flexors are put the ringer. Pretty good set up of aid stations with electrolytes and water on course.

Post race: just like the 5K, everyone has access to food trucks, music, the beer garden, meet ups, free food, etc. Medals for the 15K as well

What to improve on: I was actually signed up for the half marathon, but it didn't start until 9:20 (25 min after the 15K). I was set to run the half up until about 740 AM race morning and ended up not being able to get a late check out at the hotel (partly my fault for not checking on check in) and I wouldn't have had enough time, especially with the hills, to finish and get back to the hotel, shower and check out without being charged. For us out of towners, I think an earlier half marathon time would be better, especially since we have more distance to cover.

Results: posted on their website fairly quickly and in real time. If you switch distances, do it prior to race morning. Since I dropped down last minute, I had to get my race time adjusted to reflect the 15K finish rather than a DNF half time (all it took was a simple email and it was fixed pretty quickly).

Overall a fun race, good atmosphere, but be ready for some hills! Hopefully something can be worked out so the half can be started earlier in the future!