My very first marathon was the 2006 Portland Marathon. I didn’t love the course, especially the long stretch through the industrial depression that leads to the St. John’s bridge. Afterwards, I told myself I never needed to run that course ever again, and I didn’t. I ran marathons in Victoria, Seattle, San Francisco, Eugene, and Vernonia, but had no desire to run Portland ever again. Then 2019 came, and the marathon came under new ownership…