My wife and I are considering doing this race, but I’m in the Midwest and know next to nothing about the area. For any of you that did Oregon 70.3, what was your experience? Would you do it again? Any advice or suggestions you might offer (e.g. places to stay)? I found a few other threads on the topic of Oregon (pasted below), but most of the posts are from before the race. A good number of them are negative about the town of Salem as a location. The post-race commentary mentions that the swim was VERY fast and difficult to site because of the sun. Overall though, most of the post-race comments are positive. I’m just looking for any information I can get. Thanks in advance.
IM Oregon 70.3 had a lot of good aspects, in my view. It’s a candidate for a PR course: the swim is very fast (downright easy, even if you hit the shallow spot and have to walk in the water as I did). Bike rolling flat, mostly the same on the run. Not the most spectacularly scenic of courses, yet very nice. Weather was cool this year and usually isn’t too hot in July.
I’m not sure what to say about Salem as a locale; I just spent a few days in Muncie, Indiana, for IM Indiana and found fun things there. Same as Salem. There are not many places to stay in Salem, but it is possible to even shack up in Portland and bolt down morning of.
Good experience for me all in all, but I’m not a critical voice when it comes to races. Best
I did this race, and can easily say it was one of my favorite 70.3’s I’ve ever done! I would do it again 100% if I didn’t live across the country.
Starting with the race director, he was such a great communicator beforehand, with preview videos and timely information. I even saw him at the info tent after helping people with questions!
The swim was in the river, about a 1 mile walk from the transition. The start took a while getting people into the water due to the steep bank (which I think may be better next time, although it was fine for me). Once in the water, the current was a ripper! And it was so fun! The sun was in the sightline for the last half of the race, but nothing that would cause you to deviate from the course (the current kept you in place, and also not a really wide river). If anyone complained about the sun, ask them what their swim time was and if they would trade the current for clouds or different direction, lol. The exit to transition was easy with the ramps, and it was pretty uphill to get up to the grass, all on sidewalk pavement…I walked a bit getting off my wetsuit, maybe took like 3 min total.
The bike was great, mostly flat and nice roads. A few blind downhill turns, which were marked and staffed beyond what would be normal. Aid stations had helpful and trained volunteers (holding gels and water/gatorade to make them easy to grab). Twice over some raised railroad tracks, but again, marked very well, and using common sense, made them fine.
Run was fun, the first ~2 miles on roads and then over to a park paved trail, which had some shade spots, but beautiful surroundings. If you prefer all city run, this is not your race. I liked that it was one loop, out 6 back and in with a downhill finish. There was about 2 miles of trail hard packed sand/small rocks part of the run that I should mention, but it was completely shaded from trees, which was nice on the way back. One small and short part with bigger rocks to get back up onto the road made some people whine (maybe they were just tired). Again, aid stations were great, and so thankful for volunteers setting up at some points that were probably not easy to get to, as in a little bit of a hike for them.
After race was organized and food was good. It was hot towards the end of the race and waiting for awards/rolldowns, but fine for me training in the heat all year.
Salem itself…hmmm…I’ll let you form your own opinion on that one 
Didn’t do it but did used to work in the area. Pretty flat in Salem proper so I’m sure the bike/run courses set up for fast times. Heard the swim is downriver so maybe a plus if you don’t love that discipline.
I would definitely consider doing this one in the future. Oregon gets decent weather that time of year compared to where a lot of people might be training. There usually isn’t humidity and the highs come late in the day. Salem is nothing to write home about. It’s a small capitol city filled with strip malls & some decent breweries. I would much rather hang out in the college towns (Eugene, Corvallis) or in Portland. The nice part about that race is that you can race on a flat course & stay wherever you want. I-5 flows pretty nicely in either direction. You could stay in Portland or Eugene if you wanted to or make a trip out of them on either end. What runner isn’t trying to get in some time on Pre? You also have easy access to the ocean or to mountains. So I think the buzz about Oregon 70.3 might be what you can do post-race. Go to the coast. Hit the breweries in Eugene or Portland. Hike at Mt. Hood. Go out to Bend. You have whatever you want after the race and aren’t locked into the race venue.
Didn’t do it but did used to work in the area. Pretty flat in Salem proper so I’m sure the bike/run courses set up for fast times. Heard the swim is downriver so maybe a plus if you don’t love that discipline.
I would definitely consider doing this one in the future. Oregon gets decent weather that time of year compared to where a lot of people might be training. There usually isn’t humidity and the highs come late in the day. Salem is nothing to write home about. It’s a small capitol city filled with strip malls & some decent breweries. I would much rather hang out in the college towns (Eugene, Corvallis) or in Portland. The nice part about that race is that you can race on a flat course & stay wherever you want. I-5 flows pretty nicely in either direction. You could stay in Portland or Eugene if you wanted to or make a trip out of them on either end. What runner isn’t trying to get in some time on Pre? You also have easy access to the ocean or to mountains. So I think the buzz about Oregon 70.3 might be what you can do post-race. Go to the coast. Hit the breweries in Eugene or Portland. Hike at Mt. Hood. Go out to Bend. You have whatever you want after the race and aren’t locked into the race venue.
Good synopsis.
Er, I mean Oregon really sucks, definitely don’t visit for a race or think of moving here. Rains all the time.
I did it and really enjoyed it. For anyone who has done Vineman/Santa Rosa 70.3, there are a lot of similarities. Salem was like a poor man Santa Rosa and I mean that in a good way.
The swim was stupid fast. I am a “normal” 70.3 swimmer in 32-34mins, I did Salem in 23. It was directly into the sun o lightening was tough, but my God was it fast. I actually thought the bike was pretty scenic. Rolley, no long climbs, maybe one of two decent punchers, but that is it. Ride is mostly through vineyards and farms. Run was deceptively tough. Pretty flat, very well shaded and probably 3-4mi on gravel, not sure if I fueled poorly or what, but had a bad run.
Some decent places to stay close by, good coffee shops, no fine dining but it’s also only 45mins or so south of Portland, so make a trip up there post race to enjoy some good beer in and food.
Would 100% recommend the race.