Fast Running Blog

As everyone has redemption on their mind, I would propose a spring marathon for all to consider whether you are trying to qualify for Boston or trying to OTQ.

As Jon will attest, the Newport Marathon (Oregon) is a very fast and honest course. It fits all of the new OTQ criteria and continues to be a major Boston qualifier on a percentage basis. Perhaps more important than the fast course is the extremely reliable and predictable weather: low 50s, cloud cover, no wind. As I look up and down the West, I can't find a Spring marathon that has a greater chance of yielding a 2:19. There is certainly nothing in WA and the only other possibility in Oregon might be Eugene, but as I can attest to, having grown up there and running the marathon in 2007, the course is not as fast as people would like to think and more importantly, the weather can be very warm and even humid.

A key to making this as fast as possible is getting a group of people so we can run in a pack. I am trying to get 8-10 people from Seattle to take a shot at this in Newport. Having 5-8 from FRB would be an awesome addition.

Give it some thought.

Sean, that is in early/mid May?

Saturday, May 30th...the weekend after Memorial Day. After talking with my coach, he thinks we can get 16-20 guys running it just from the Seattle area. The more the merrier. 

May 30th huh... That would work out excellent (if only Al thinks so!)

Sounds Interesting and fun it might fit in my schedule.

I'm revisiting this thread I started back in October because people who might be interested will need to start planning accordingly.

I just sent out an e-mail to the top 15 or so marathoners in the Seattle area gauging their interest in running this. (While it's purpose is to help a group of us qualify for the Trials, I would recommend this race for anyone trying to improve their time or BQ.)

I know Paul Petersen is very interested and if all goes well will be joining us. I expect that 5-7 guys from up here will be there as well. If anyone on this blog would like to, please let me know.

Also, I am looking for a way to reach Mark Currell who just graduated from SUU. He is from Washington but I don't have a way to get a hold of him to ask him if he wants to run this with us. If you know how to contact him, please let me know.

Sean, I'm new to the Fast Running Blog community.  I am planning on running Newport this year.  I was actually going to run last year when you won it, but I ended up getting swamped applying for grad school, work, and family, etc.  It's a shame because I was really fit too, but at that time, those things had to take priority.  Now, I'm almost done with grad school (May), and Newport seems like it will be fantastic timing.  I'm getting back into shape and I have some guys I'll be doing key workouts with.  It's exciting that you are rounding up a good crowd of folks.  If people follow through, it looks like it'll be a fast race.  I'll have to talk to my wife and mother in law about it, but I may be able to help a few people with a place to stay a couple of days before the marathon.  My mother in law lives in Corvallis, about an hour from Newport.  My wife had her college cross country team stay there for a few days before a race, and I hear my mother in law had fun with it.  Obviously I can't gaurantee anything, but I can look into the possibility.  But, I'll probably end up staying a hotel in Newport the night before to ensure a good pre-race morning.     

Sean, I know a few people who might have Mark's contact info.  I'll look into it.

Just a heads-up, all is not going well, and I've pretty much retired from serious marathoning for the time being. So I'm out. That said, I've researched this race a lot, and it looks like a great one. I hope others run it and get some nice PR's, and give Sasha some data for an unaided sea-level course.  :)