On Sun Sep 10 2023, I ran the Boring Marathon in Boring, Oregon. Yes, the town's name is "Boring". And that of course leads to lots of jokes about how boring it really is. I must admit that the name did aid in me selecting this particular race for my latest marathon. I seem to be choosing places with funny names lately, such as Boring, Yakima, Saskatoon, etc. I also chose this one because it was on a weekend that fit my schedule nicely, and I was able to get plane tickets to Portland OR rather cheaply. Boring is only about a half hour away from Portland, so it was an easy drive over there.
I flew in on Saturday morning and drove out to the Mt Hood area to check out some nice scenery. I brought my drone with me, and found a spot near Little Crater Lake to fly around and attempt some nice pictures. In the afternoon I made it to Boring, where I picked up my race gear, got in a day-before warmup run, and checked in to my hotel.
Thankfully, getting the race start on Sunday morning was a breeze, unlike my last marathon in Winnipeg. Of course, it helps that this race was much smaller. In fact, this race was tiny. It might be the smallest marathon I've ever run. There ended up being only 34 runners in the Full Marathon! I didn't find this out until after the race was over, but apparently there were many more runners who were registered but never bothered to show up. From what I was told -- and I didn't know this until after I had finished my race -- last year's event was cancelled at the last minute because of wildfires in the area. Runners had been offered a deferral to this year. Many apparently had accepted the deferral but then, apparently, never bothered to show up.
There was also a Half Marathon that had 90 runners, and an 8k that had 80 runners. Altogether that's still a small crowd. And the start times were staggered, 6:30am, 7:30am and 8:30am. So the 34 marathon runners were the only ones lining up at 6:30.
Not surprising with a race this small, it was a very low-key event. The Half Marathon course was a simple out-and-back, about 6.5 miles along a paved bike trail. The Full Marathon course ran that twice. The same out-and-back twice meant we passed everything 4 times. And while the scenery was pleasant, there wasn't exactly a ton of variety. In other words, it was (dare I say it) a rather boring course.
The weather was terrific. Temps were in the mid-50s to start the race. The sun still hadn't risen yet when we started. The forecast called for clouds to roll in by mid-morning, but that never happened. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, even by the time I finished the race. I often mention how the sun can wear me down, even if the temps don't get too warm. Yes, I believe the sun was draining me in this race a bit. But for the most part, I feel like I hung in well. The temps still hadn't hit 70 by the time I was done, so it was still rather pleasant running weather.
With such a small field -- and a very flat course -- I was able to set my pace and run exactly how I wanted to. Mile 6 was my fastest mile, at 9:10. But a few other miles were right in that same range. By the time I made the first turnaround at Mile 6.5, my pace was close to 9:30 and steadily dropping from there. I finished the first half in about 2:04, which is slightly faster than I typically run, but not by much. The third quarter of the race was done with an average pace of about 10:10. After the last turnaround near Mile 19.5, I was incorporating walk breaks, as I always do in marathons these days, and my pace had dropped below 11:00. This gradual slowing is certainly commonplace for me now. But this time, I felt fairly good and strong right up through the end. My final mile was 11:55, and while that certainly isn't anything speedy, I'm sure this is the first time in a while that I haven't had any miles slower than 12 minutes.
My final time ended up at 4:24:25. Amazingly, that's my fastest marathon time since Apr 2014 in Olathe KS, almost 9.5 years ago! I hadn't even broken 4:30 since Apr 2019 in Virginia Beach. I had been putting in more training miles lately, and apparently it paid off. Frankly, I wasn't even aware that it had been so long since I had broken four and a half hours. I guess I had just gotten accustomed to my recent times around 4:40, plus or minus a few minutes. In retrospect, I am thrilled that I was able to move as well as I did, despite my ever-advancing age. Nice weather, flat course, and small crowd apparently all help attaining a relatively fast time.
My pictures from this race will not be very interesting, since there wasn't much scenery. So I'll also include a few other pictures taken over the weekend from around Oregon before I flew back home. In a nutshell, I think, yes, it was a rather "boring" marathon. But any time I can record my fastest time in almost a decade, I think I have to be pleased with the race.
And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.
Video before the start
Waiting around for the start. Not too many people.
Just underway
It's already thinning out
Plenty of wooden bridges along the path
Scenery
Another bridge upcoming
A long shadow, early in the morning
This is the turnaround at Mile 6.5
A little switchback after going through a tunnel under a road
Lots of green things
Video a the halfway point
Going over a road
Is this one of the bridges I took a pic of on my first lap? I have no idea. Give me a break, it all looked the same.
Over bridges, under bridges... There really wasn't much else to take pictures of.
Turn around ahead. So almost 3/4 of the way done.
Video at Mile 19.5
Some random point along the course
Signs
Aid station
It's sunny
Video at Mile 24
Oregon blueberries
Approaching the finish line
Boring Marathon is complete
Video after the race
I took this video with my drone the next day. It shows the start/finish area and the first section of the course. The rest doesn't look all that much different.
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