Portland Marathon Weekend Kicks Off: Record Nearly 15,000 Entries as Taiwan Tourism Booth Draws Crowds
Portland is a city in Multnomah County, Oregon. The 54th annual Portland Marathon presented by Nike Running opened its race weekend on Saturday, October 3, as thousands of runners packed the pre-race expo at the Oregon Convention Center. Organizers said nearly 15,000 people registered for this year's event — the largest field in the history of the city's signature marathon — across four distances, with racing beginning on the morning of October 4.
Making its debut at this year's expo was the Taiwan Tourism Administration (TTA), which sponsored the Portland Marathon for the first time and hosted a Taiwan travel booth. Borrowing the everyday Taiwanese custom of drawing fortune sticks at a temple, the booth invited runners to draw a stick and discover the Taiwan journey that suited them best, built around three wellness themes: mountains and forests, hot springs, and tea culture. Brochures also covered half-day transit tours, the Taiwan PASS, running events and cycling travel around the island. China Airlines' Seattle branch also exhibited at the expo.
In the race itself, Connor Ford won the men's marathon in 2:27:14 in his first-ever marathon, while Portland local Margaret Glad led the women in 2:52:32.
(Source: Taiwan Tourism Administration, Running USA, KOIN 6 Portland)
Source: Taiwan Tourism Administration
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: James Cohen from North Beach, San Francisco, U. S. of A. / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
