Local race organizer Uberthons stages races in Oregon almost every month of the year, and the 2017 slate opens on January 21, 2017, with the inaugural Winter Half Marathon located at The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Course.* This is the first in the Half Marathon Series – one for each season. Signing up for all four gets you a special preferred parking pass, invitation to the year-end banquet, and more.
* Note that in past years, Uberthons staged the NewYearathon on the first Saturday of the year, which consisted of a 1 mile and a 5K, with the option to run one or the other or both. That race has effectively been subsumed within this one.
What if you don’t want to run a half marathon? No worries, because the event includes a 5K and a quarter marathon (a true quarter marathon, not a 10K).
All race finishers will get a medal (different ones for each race distance) and post-race soup and bread. Top 3 age/gender group finishers get gold/silver/bronze pins, and the top 3 overall and 45+ get gold/silver/bronze medals, and the top 65+ get gold medals.
This is actually the one Uberthons half marathon “event” that I haven’t taken any part in yet (I’ve run the fall half marathon three times, and the 10Ks at the spring and summer events), but I have run numerous races at The Reserve ever since Uberthons started using it as a venue for late October-late March races, so I’m very familiar with the race course(s), the staging area, parking, and other other amenities. It’s a great location with plenty of parking, porta-potties, and an interesting course that holds lots of runners yet rarely feels overly crowded.
The course: Races at The Reserve take place entirely on the golf cart paths, so it’s all paved. During the rainy season, there are often small puddles at various points along the way, but these are typically marked by orange cones to give warning. The Reserve has two golf courses (north and south). The most recent race on the south course was the 2016 Halloweenathon, which I recapped here with the course map. The north course hasn’t been used in a few years, but the quarter and half marathons will span both courses. Yes, that means the half marathon is a double loop. The 5K will be a true 5K, run on the same course as the Halloweenathon. Both courses are relatively flat (though not Kansas-flat), with a number of semi-twisty turns. I’d rate them as overall neutral in terms of speed, with the turns being offset by the flatness.
Pacers: There will be pacers running 1:45, 2:00, 2:15, and 2:30 for the half marathon. They wear bright yellow singlets and carry a pace sign, so they’re easy to spot.
Cap: The race is capped at 400 half marathoners, 200 5Kers, and 100 quarter marathoners.
Oregon Winter Half Marathon
When: Saturday, January 21, 2017, at 8:30 am (half and quarter marathon), 9:00 am (5K).
Where: The Reserve Vineyards and Golf Course, 4805 SW 229th Ave, Aloha, OR.
Register: Online here ($60 for half marathon, $50 for quarter marathon, $40 for 5K; each also will add a small processing fee) — the half marathon series (all four events) is $200, and the Oregon series (three halves + a full marathon in the summer) is $225.
Pre-race packet pick-up: Thursday, January 19, 2017, from 4 pm to 8 pm at the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, 6100 SW Meadows Rd. Lake Oswego, OR.
