Eugene Marathon 2024 celebrates largest fields ever and raises more than $233,000 for charities

EUGENE, Ore. — According to event organizers, the 2024 Eugene Marathon Weekend was both unlike any other, but also exactly the same.

Each year when the Eugene Marathon descends on the communities of Eugene and Springfield, as it has since 2007, thousands of local and regional runners converge on Hayward Field to participate in the marathon, half marathon, Eugene 5K or Kid’s Duck Dash, presented by OCCU.

This year, not only did more regulars return, but thousands of new Eugene runners from cities like Austin, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, Victoria and Guadalajara also ran in the footsteps of legends and crossed the iconic Hayward Field finish line. .

A total of 50 states and 28 countries were represented on the starting lines of all four races.

According to organizers, more than 12,000 runners registered for all four events, more than 10,000 finished, and an estimated economic impact of $6.8 million for the local region – which is $2 million over the 2023 impact.

And another big milestone was reached: the event smashed the charity’s fundraising goal of raising a total of $233,000 for local nonprofits.

“Our hope each year is to be an event that both serves our local running community and welcomes runners from around the world to experience the magic that is here in Track Town, USA,” said Race Director Ian Dobson. “In 2024, we can proudly say that not only did we have more returning runners than ever before, we also had thousands of new runners from around the world; And on top of that, we were able to almost double our charity fundraising goal.”

The Eugene Marathon’s Run for a Reason program offers local and national charities the opportunity to use the race as a fundraising platform. Last August, race organizers set a goal of raising more than $150,000 by 2024.

When the marathon distance sold out six weeks before race day and the half marathon and 5K followed a few weeks later, joining a charity team (by raising money for that charity) was the only way for novice runners to be sure to be a starting number. race day. A certain number of bibs were set aside for charities that signed up to participate in the Run for a Reason program, so those teams saw many more members sign up to raise money after the races sold out to the public.

The 2024 Eugene Marathon Run for a Reason teams were: A Family for Every Child, Boys & Girls Club of Emerald Valley, CASA Lane County, Circle of Friends, Carry It Forward, Girls on The Run Greater Oregon, Parkinson’s Foundation, Relief Nursery, Rimrock Trails, Ronald McDonald House of Oregon and SW Washington, Shift, St. Baldrick’s Foundation and St. Vincent de Paul Lane County.

With the increased number of runners – approximately 2,500 more than in 2023 – the organization also had to increase the number of volunteers starting in 2023 to over 1,300 individuals in 2024. Most of the volunteers were high school groups, teams, student associations and other non-profit organizations that also received a donation of the Eugene Marathon for their helping hands during the race weekend.

Registration for the 2025 Eugene Marathon is now open through Sunday, May 5, with “Early Bird prizes,” organizers said.