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NEWS RELEASE

PORTLAND, Ore.—25 Sept. 2009—This October 2, 3, and 4, runners and walkers from all 50 states, and from 21 foreign countries, will fill the streets of downtown Portland for the 38th Annual Portland Marathon. Nearly 10,000 marathoners are expected to attend, 58% of which will be women. Additionally, more than 4,500 volunteers will help produce this year’s Portland Marathon.

The Portland Marathon creates a $20 million economic impact on the Portland Area, and is one of the city’s largest events. For the last three years, the event has been considered Portland’s largest “convention.” The Portland Marathon events include: 

• 26.2-mile marathon run and walk;
• Kaiser Permanente 5-mile run;
• 10 km Mayor’s walk, which Mayor Sam Adams will attend;
• 3 satellite half marathons on Iraq military bases for OR and WA based troops;
• Kids’ 2-mile marafun;
• Two-day Sports Authority Sports & Fitness Expo;
• Pasta dinner party; post-event awards part; three-day national event directors’college.

The Portland Marathon is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and an Oregon non-profit corporation. Each year more than $150,000 is donated by the Portland Marathon to over 100 local non-profits, school groups, sport teams, and other charities. With the help of the event, charities also raise about $2 million.

This year, over the 26.2-mile course, the Portland Marathon will feature 76 bands and entertainers at 61 venues. This is just one of the features that makes the Portland Marathon unique to other distance-running events in the country. The Portland Marathon is ranked as one of the top ten largest marathons in the United States, and among the top 10 distance-running events in the world by Runner’s World. The publication also named the event one of the “best organized” and “greenest” marathons in the country.