WHAT'S NEXT? 2014 EDITION

The state of the Eugene Marathon in one image.

Now that I've reflected back on the Portland Marathon it is time to look forward. I'd like to do another spring marathon and I think I may just have the race picked out. What race, you say? The Eugene Marathon down in Eugene, Oregon. Despite being the hometown of a very shitty college, they are also a big running town and have a reputation for putting on a good marathon. Plus, it is only two hours away, so my desire to stay somewhat local will hold.

I had always had Eugene as a target and was initially planning to do it in spring 2014 (this was back before I even ran my first marathon). Unfortunately, they changed the date in 2014 from the traditional last week of April to the last week of July. The dead heat of summer. They moved it to coincide with the U.S. Track and Field Nationals, making the weekend one big "celebration of running."

Needless to say, the move was not popular at all and participation dropped in half. For a race that had steadily built a great reputation and had 7,300 participants across all events in 2013 a drop in 2014 to 3,700 total was devastating. They really pissed off a lot of people and broke a lot of trust (despite continual rosy predictions, "it's gonna be great," "you'll love it even more this weekend," blah blah blah). Nobody wanted to run a late July marathon in Oregon!

Anyways, all that is background to the fact they have been "set to announce" the 2015 date for about two months now. Their Facebook page is almost laughable at this point, any post about any topic just results in dozens of "2015 date?" comments and things like "You should really stop posting until you announce the date." Rumor is pretty strong on a return to a spring date and a date close to the old "end of April" slot. So we'll see.

Assuming they move it back to spring that will be my marathon. The only potential conflict is with the Indianapolis Mini Marathon (half) that I'll be doing with my From Strangers to Solemates team from Ragnar SoCal. That is on May 2nd, which traditionally would be the week after Eugene. So the only way I wouldn't do Eugene is if they happen to settle on this weekend as a new date. My Solemates win in that case.

Should the marathon take place the week before/after Indianapolis I'll just take it easier and not go PR speed. Maybe run with one of my teammates. I originally planned to shoot for a PR in Indy, but they'll be plenty of other chances for a half marathon PR next year. I'll have a post soon with my upcoming races through that Mini Marathon. I don't think I have many, but whenever I start to list them I tend to be surprised.