Announcing the Portland Waterfront Run Oregon Virtual Time Trial (Free)
Click here to check out the route. Because it’s a loop, you can technically start at any point along the loop as long as you run a complete loop and stop your time at the exact point where you started running. Note: You should never use a dog as your starting point. I recommend something like the plaque in the ground shown here, which is in the sidewalk just east of the Salmon Springs Fountain and bike rental building.
Then, once you’ve run, log your time here. You can also find the time log at any time from the “Virtual Time Trials” link on the Run Oregon home page, where we’ll add new courses as they come up. We’ll occasionally post results with your name and time, unless you check the box to keep your name private (then we’ll just use your initials). We might also post aggregate age group and gender results, but without names. Your email address will never be posted.
In addition, you can look forward to Run Oregon Virtual Time Trial routes in other areas and for other distances. Joe is working on a mile course in the Portland metro area, Matt is creating a route in Salem, and Jessica is planning one for Eugene. As a matter of fact, if you have a great route you’d like us to review and potentially add to our line-up, be sure to let us know (and include a public link to the map). Before you send your route in, though, make sure it’s a safe route with no road crossings (or any road crossings are safe for pedestrians and easy to see cars coming as you approach).
So, get going! Tell your friends … and have fun!
Eugene’s is a no-brainer … a loop on the riverside bike paths between the Greenway Bridge (at Valley River Center) and the DeFazio Bridge (at Alton Baker Park), both of which are car-free. It’s 3.6 miles, a wide concrete path, no car crossings, lighting for night runs, and park restrooms just a few steps off the path in a couple places. It’s not going to be anybody’s favorite run, but it’s a reliable, easily accessed route for locals and visitors from several locations, with only a couple of grades, very similar in feel to the route between the Steel and Hawthorne bridges in Portland.
The path extends to car-free bridges in each direction on both sides of the river, although some areas don’t have lighting, as many (if any) restrooms, and/or the path goes on to city streets (albeit lightly traveled), which is why I highlight this segment. The entire river trail system is mapped here: http://www.eugene-or.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/4762