The Portland Marathon course

Southwest 4th and the jog over to Flanders, with Big Pink standing over the whole thing. The grid gives back a few feet early, then the road starts tilting up before the mile marker, so let the corral crush hold you back rather than fighting it.

Alder to Broadway and out through the Pearl on 9th, past the Park Avenue West Tower. This is real climbing on a marathon everyone calls flat, so run the effort and let the watch say what it wants.

Burnside carries you west, then a turn onto Northwest 23rd and back east on Kearney. Still going up, gentler than the last mile, and the field is finally wide enough to pick your own line.

Up 24th and along Thurman through the Alphabet District, then back down 21st. The road hands back exactly what mile 2 took, and it is the easiest free speed on the course to overspend.

Overton, 9th and Hoyt through the Pearl, still drifting down toward the river. The grade flips late in the mile as the approach to the Broadway Bridge begins, so keep something in reserve for it.

Across the Broadway Bridge and onto North Williams, gaining most of the height on the far side rather than the deck itself. Bridges are worth running by feel and not by split.

Out to Ramsay Way beside the Rose Quarter, then straight back over the Broadway Bridge. Everything the last mile cost you comes back here, so let it come without pressing.

Back on Naito along Waterfront Park, running past the streets you started on. Dead flat and tempting to bank, but the longest climb of the day begins before this mile is done.

First Avenue, then Naito and Sheridan under the KOIN Center as the road pulls up toward the Ross Island ramps. This is the heaviest single mile of climbing on the course, so give the grade the time it asks for.

Hood Avenue and Ross Island Way spill you back down to Naito heading south. The whole mile falls, which makes it the best recovery you will get anywhere on this course.

Macadam Avenue, one road, no turns, running south through Johns Landing. Barely a tilt to any of it, so use the mile to reset your breathing and your rhythm.

Still Macadam, still straight, with a long gradual rise starting toward the bridge. Nothing steep about it, just persistent.

Over the Sellwood Bridge and up into Sellwood on Southeast 7th and Sellwood Boulevard. Climbing off a bridge deck feels worse than it measures, and the top of this one comes quickly.

Halfway lands here, on Bybee and the numbered streets through Westmoreland, and the road drops to meet it. Do the honest math now, because the second half of this course is not the first half backwards.

Southeast 22nd, 19th and 21st, quiet residential blocks with nothing much happening underfoot. You are past the middle and into the part of the race that actually gets decided.

Southeast 27th onto Bybee and Crystal Springs Boulevard, and the biggest climb left in the race. Shorten the stride, hold the cadence, and let the pace go where it goes.

Crystal Springs to Lambert, then onto Reed College Place. Flat ground and a straight boulevard, which is a gift this deep into the day.

Woodstock Boulevard and the swing through Eliot Circle on the Reed campus. Slightly downhill with plenty of turns, so run the tangents and not the scenery.

Back out Reed College Place and Woodstock to Southeast 28th. Level ground with one mile to go before the number that matters, so settle the breathing and stop doing arithmetic.

Twenty arrives on 28th and Lambert with the road falling away under you. Gravity rarely shows up at this mileage, so let it help your legs rather than your split.

Bybee again, then Reedway, giving back a handful of feet on essentially level ground. A short rise waits at the end of the mile, small enough to shrug off if you see it coming.

Milwaukie Avenue north through Westmoreland, tilting up just enough to register this late. Twenty-two is where the discipline you showed on mile 4 pays you back.

A short steep ramp opens this mile, the sharpest pitch anywhere on the course, and then Franklin and McLoughlin tip you downhill for the rest of it. Grind the ramp however you have to, then take the free ground that follows.

Water Avenue and Caruthers along the east bank, past OMSI and the old Station L smokestack. Downhill, the city skyline back in front of you, close enough now to start believing it.

Water Avenue to 2nd and up onto the Burnside Bridge. That ramp is the last climb of the day and a small one, and once the river is under you the finish is effectively in sight.

Off the bridge, down Davis and back onto Naito with Big Pink overhead again. Waterfront Park, Salmon Street, and a road that slopes gently down to the line.