WELCOME

Last summer our community welcomed the world, hosting the Oregon22 World Athletics Championships. It was a massive undertaking. The Eugene Marathon team had the honor and responsibility of organizing the Marathon and Race Walk events, starting with course design all the way through to delivering on race day logistics. We learned from the best and we put together a truly world class event, but the single most exciting opportunity we saw at that event was the chance to do what we do at the Eugene Marathon every year: show off all that we love about our community.

This year the Eugene Marathon is once again welcoming runners from all 50 states and more than 20 countries. If you’re one of those who has traveled to be here, we’re so glad you came! If you’re one of the thousands of local residents who will be participating, we thank you for your role in maintaining our place as one of the great running communities in the world.

My role as Race Director affords me the pleasure of working with schools, charities, law enforcement, city government and many more. One particularly inspiring partnership I want to highlight this year is with Springfield High School. Each marathoner and half marathon will receive a finisher medal inlaid with a piece of Historic Hayward Field, produced and assembled by SHS students. During the race, each marathoner and half marathoner will also be offered water by SHS track & field athletes on the course. And if you run fast enough, you might even receive one of the stunning awards the SHS Career and Technical Programs produced for our top three finishers in each category. This magnitude of engagement and work from high school students is both a testament to those students, their teachers and coaches, and, I believe, to the importance of this event in our community.

Thank you in advance to everyone who makes this event possible. This event would not exist without the support of the University of Oregon, the City of Eugene, the City of Springfield, law enforcement from both communities, our valued partners, hundreds of volunteers, and the thousands of runners who have chosen to run here, in the footsteps of legends.

Ian Dobson Eugene Marathon Race Director