Strava Segment of the Week: Boardwalk Path (downtown Portland)

If you are running north along the waterfront on the west side of the river in downtown Portland, you probably usually turn and go over the Steel Bridge. But did you know that if you go around the bridge footings and through a gate before reaching the condos, there's a paved path that runs along the river down to the Alber's Mill building and beyond to the former PPD horse paddock? That's where our segment is today: the Boardwalk Path. The segment is a half-mile with a 0% grade, and it's been tried 10,211 times by 1,713 people on Strava. It's run how I described above, only starting at the north end of the path and finishing up just before the Steel Bridge. You will have to look at the map to see where you veer around the back of some buildings and around a parking lot after going up a few steps, but it's pretty easy. Our Strava Segment of the week from December 23, 2016 was the South Jetty Sprint in Newport. The previous records still stand, but keep trying!

As of January 5, 2017, the course records for the Boardwalk Path are:

Women’s: Christina O from December 2015, 3:53

Men’s:  Jesse Ebersole from June 2016, 3:15

So, can you beat their times and become the leader of this segment? You have until Thursday, January 19 at noon to try and break the record and see your name in “lights” on Run Oregon! We’ll post a new Segment next Friday at 12.

Strava is an online training and racing log for runners and cyclists. The basic account is free and requires you to create a login. There is also a premium version, but in order to run and record routes as described in this post, you do not need to subscribe to their premium service. Note that this is not sponsored by Strava, nor endorsed or supported in any way by Strava. It’s just a fun thing we’re going to do to give some speedy shout-outs to area runners and pose a challenge to those of you willing to take on their segment.