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!

On the fence about this race. Went to PDX for the weekend to get out of the Spokane Snow and to keep my endurance up over the winter and found the Heartbreaker Half in Hillsboro.

Race Distances: 5K, 10K and Half Marathon

Bib Pick up: Though the race is in Hillsboro, packet pick up was at a Portland running store closer to PDX airport. Email said pick up wasn’t available race day, so I made the treck to get my bib. Easy enough as they scanned your QR code from your registration email and assigned you a bib there. Other area races were also there. Showed up race morning to packet pick up being offered. What the what?

Location: start/Finish at Liberty HS

Start times: 8 am (half), 810 am (10k), 815 am (5K)

The course: be prepared for rolling hills. Did not realize how many hills there were. It’s also never good when you’re at the start and the announcer comments that the course was changed and there are more hills than last year. Would have been beneficial to have an elevation map on the website. Course was a loop for the half marathon and met up with the 10K on two separate occasions, so you had to pay attention to splits. There were some water stops, but not nearly enough, I don’t think. The first one I saw was at least 4 miles in. The other issue I had was it was on active road with no real area marked off for runners. I don’t want to be snapped at by volunteers, when there’s no marked area for me to run inside. Though the leaders may not have seen much traffic, more than a few cars didn’t slow down on course for us.

Post race: not a whole lot in terms of post race food. I couldn’t even identify some of the things they had left over.

Overall, wouldn’t come back for this one

Came to Portland for the weekend to escape the foot of snow that’s encased Eastern Washington. Found the Chocolatathon and figured it sound fun enough to do and 10Ks are hard enough to find.

Race distance: 5K/10K/kids fun run

Packet pick up: day of the race, with race registration available

Location: Cook Park in Tigard. Some in park parking, some of us parked up by the school, a little bit of a walk (? Half a mile).

Course itself: mainly on paved running path with one or two spots that were trail. The 5K did 1 loop, the 10 K did 2 loops. One hill about 2 miles in (and at 5 miles if you did the 10K). We were sent out in waves 1-2 min apart since the path was narrow, but it worked out. Personally, I finished just before the rain started. Good quick race for sure.

Swag: no shirts, which I’m ok with because I have so many shirts that I don’t wear anyways. Good medal though (think ice cream sundae like.

Post race: all things chocolate available: chocolate chip pancakes (chocolate syrup if you want it), cheesecake (chocolate chip, swirled, chocolate in general), hot chocolate, you name it.

Fun race for sure, sign up if you’re in the neighborhood (or visiting)!

So this is my fourth year doing Surf City and third in a row (2013, 2017-2019), partially because I like to get out of the inland NW of Washington State in January and February. The past 2 years, I’ve flown into John Wayne Airport (Orange County), which if you can, please do because it’s closer and less stressful than LAX.

Hotels: I stayed at the Waterfront Hotel the past 2 years (right at the race start/finish), though it’s a bit more pricey. I’ve had same day flights out, so it’s one of those gotta get a shower and to the airport sort of things. I’ve also stayed at the Double Tree in Santa Ana with family in the past, they do shuttles and pre race/post race stuff and do a great race.

Expo: typically from 1-7 on Friday and 10-4 Saturday before the race. If you want to packet pick up day of, it’s an additional $25 (and you typically have to sign up for it at registration). I wish it would open an hour or so earlier on Saturday, just for crowds. You can also pick up for friends/family. This year bib pick up was by QR code and your bib was assigned to you at pick up. If you’re picking up for people, you can only pick up for 2 additional, need their ID and QR code. I picked up for a friend and it was painless and simple. The downside though of numbers assigned at the expo is you can’t personalize your bib, which I’ve done the last 3 times I’ve done Surf City. Always a big expo, outside and under a tent. Tons of vendors, an area for legacy status runners where you get an additional shirt, plenty of photo ops, etc.

Race time: 630 AM for the marathon, 7 AM for the 5K, 745 AM for the half marathon. I always wish they’d do the half at like 715 and and the 5K at 745, especially this year where the weather was sketchy and rain anticipated.

The course: primarily on the Pacific Coast highway. There’s a few mile portion where you go through the neighborhoods of Huntington Beach from miles 3-6, but the rest is on Route 1. It does get a little mundane and there’s not a whole lot of crowd support the further out you get, but there is some. Be ready for a hill heading into the neighborhoods and around mile 10. The biggest crowd support is the first 1-1.5 miles and the last 1-1.5 miles. The marathon splits from the half about 4 miles again before rejoining somewhere on Route 1, though they leave us again just over 12 miles in for the half marathon.

Aid Stations: plenty of stations every 1-1.5 miles depending on where you’re at. I tried some Nuun and nearly puked so I went without any electrolytes and could feel it. Though I appreciate Nuun, I wish a Gatorade/Powerade option was available.

Post race: medals, food baggies, some vendors from the expo were still up and running pre and post race. Chocolate milk by TruMoo too! Beer garden, area for legacy runners as well (Run the half or full 3 years in a row) is also there.

Pros: decent course, plenty of aid stations, typically good weather, though this year cloudy and nearly poured down rain on us, good atmosphere. They did go to Bib timing this year (about time!)

Cons: lots of first time runners going 4-5 runners across or people walking in the middle of the road. Wish there was more crowd support. Also wish they didn’t get rid of bib personalization. Additionally, it seemed like they were packing up some of the water stations early despite runners still on the out portion of the course (I was coming back in after the turn around).