Terrapin Events

Terrapin is the heart and soul of the casual and semi-​competitive Portland running community. Their runs always have a clear and festive theme, and they benefit Molly’s Fund for Lupus awareness, assistance, and support. I’ve run the Bridge to Brews 8k four times (2011 — 2014), and the Cinco de Mayo 10k and Run Like Hell 10k once each (2014). They always have a nice commemorative race t-​shirt that comes with registration, and although you get two pints of beer after the race, it seems I can almost always finagle a third when I stick around at the after-​party :).
The Cinco de Mayo and Run Like Hell are in excellent locations in downtown Portland, as there is plenty of Smart Park parking just a couple of blocks away, and the race routes now avoid all trains! The Bridge to Brews is a bit trickier to get to– I’ve found that riding the MAX is the best bet, although it does take a while. But it’s worth it, because you get to run across the Fremont and Broadway bridges and then drink lots of good beer with your friends before noon. This is fun, and you get to brag about it to your wife and kids every time you drive over the Fremont bridge.
There are always plenty of port-​a-​potties available. I’ve never encountered a significant wait, if there’s a wait at all.
The bag check-​in line can get a bit long at the Bridge to Brews if you wait until 20 minutes or less before the race starts, so I’d recommend getting in the bag line with about 30 minutes left. Also, I recommend bringing your own bag, because although they generously allow you to use their cloth bags, on one occasion it left my jacket smelling badly of cigarette smoke. At the other races (Cinco de Mayo and Run Like Hell), I don’t even bother checking in a bag, because I park my car just down the block at the Smart Park.
In the 6 races I’ve run with Terrapin, the timing has been accurate in all but one instance where my results were missing for some reason– but the timing guys are always right there in «the timing van» after the race– so I showed Jon from RaceCenter the data from my GPS watch, and he corrected the problem on the spot. So if you care about your results, I strongly recommend using a GPS tracking device.
They’re also pretty generous and fair with prizes: In all the races I’ve been in, they give trophies for the top 3 overall males and females, and the top 3 Masters males and females (40+), and ribbons for the top 3 in each male and female 5-​year age division. And they don’t allow «double dipping”– so if a 48-​year-​old comes in 3^rd place overall, he gets the 3^rd overall prize and is NOT eligible for the Masters or age division prizes– this way, one person doesn’t go home with all the loot!
In 2014, the 1^st place Masters prize consisted of a trophy, a $ 25 gift certificate to Foot Traffic, and $ 50 toward entry to another Terrapin event.
If you pick up your race packet at their sponsored location on the Friday or Saturday before the race, you’ll get a free pint of high quality beer, you can usually get race shirts from previous years for $ 4 a pop, and there is occasionally worthwhile free swag such as energy drinks.
Terrapin Events is not a big corporation like some of the other event organizers that come through Portland, and the end result is a more personal feel, a slightly better value, the knowledge that you’re investing in your own community, and an original Portland experience. Terrapin Events has made a significant positive impact on the health and social lives of the Portland running community.

I still love the races I have done with Terrapin Events, but this year I was a little disappointed with the changes that they made to the Bridge to Brews run. They choose to have a beer festival at the end, instead of just giving us a couple of beers. At first I though this would be really cool, but the lines were so long, the field was muddy, and we got less beer! I really liked how it was last year, as well as their other events, that when you are finished with your race, you can just walk over to the beer table and grab your beers, no lines!
Not only was I disappointed by the new beer festival, but the food almost made me cry! A weird smelling soup with half a piece of bread and a banana? I just ran 6 miles, where is that delicious sausage we had last year?
It seems as though by adding more vendors and throwing in a fancy mug, they had to skimp on the food! I love these races, because it gets me motivated to run further than I could ever run on my own, but I also really love them for what is waiting for me at the finish line, beer and GOOD food!

Just completed my first Terrapin Events race — the Bridge to Brews 10k. The event had minimal flaws and Terrapin seemed to have their stuff in order. For a race featuring 2500+ racers, crossing over 2 major Portland bridges, and winding through the streets of downtown Portland, there were plenty of opportunities for problems. However, I experienced none of them and things went ridiculously smooth for me. The race strutted in time, the volunteers were great, the course was unique, and the mini-​Brewfest afterwards — despite the muddy grass — was great!
They have a VIP area, which looked pretty sweet and left me wishing I had signed up for that (despite the doubling of the price). Private bathrooms? That’s worth the price alone!
I am very excited for my next Terrapin event, so much so that I signed up for the Cinco De Mayo Half on the spot. Great job!

I’ve done three Terrapin Events – Bridge to Brews (twice) and Run Like Hell 10k (once). I think they have fun events that go through classic parts of Portland, and a nice afterparty with real food (not just snacks) and usually two beers! Although there have been issues with some of the courses in the past (trains for Run Like Hell), I appreciate that Terrapin Events is working on changing the course for this year. There are nice tech shirts for all participants, really nice looking medals for half marathon participants (although I don’t have one YET), and there’s a sweet VIP option for most of the races that includes tons of extra goodies. Also, their «pay what you can» option for the Cinco de Mayo half is really cool.

I just completed the Run Like Hell ½ Marathon. Will not do it again. They are not very organized. It started off at registration. It said a discount of $ 2.00 for a group of 4. We assumed that meant $ 2.00 each… nope it was $ 2.00 total so we each saved $ 0.50. Not worth it. Then at packet pick up they only gave us 1 shirt and told us that we only reserved 1 shirt and paid more for it. They would be giving out any extra shirts at the end of the event. Again not true… during sign up I entered in everyone’s shirt sizes and didn’t pay extra. Well the shirt was ugly and poorly made so it was no big deal. The worst part was the website said they will start closing the course in 3 ½ hours which I knew I would be able to do but they started shutting it down in 2 hours and they started us off late. Very scary since we were left to deal with traffic with no sidewalks. Also they shut down the water stations and we didn’t have water which we needed since it was around 10 miles. They started taking down the arrow signs and we barely figured out the way. I was very angry and disappointed since this was my 1^st ½ marathon and I knew my time would have been better if the course wasn’t shut down. The only good thing was that since I was angry I ran faster at the end. At least they didn’t shut down the finish line and we were able to cross it and receive our medals. I suggest that the next time they go with what they posted on their website. That’s what people read and that’s why they registered and that’s what they train for. I would not have signed up if I had to run 11 min miles.

I am not happy with Terrapin Events, so unhappy that I signed up with Unilocal to warn others away. It doesn’t look like Terrapin putting on a poorly organized race is new either, wish I’d looked here before I signed up.
The 2012 Run Like Hell Half Marathon was an incredibly frustrating experience.
I would have ignored all but the course closure, but once you’re truly angry, all the little f-​ups stand out.
Here they are:
1. Registration website didn’t give us our group discount, it gave one person a group discount and the rest of us paid in full.
2. Snafus in the registration system, our group’s bib numbers were all over the place numerically, and since we registered at the same time we should have had consecutive or very close numbers. This means that they didn’t actually register most of us when we paid and had to fix it later. (They also announced that their system had registered many of the male participants as female, way to go Terrapin)
3. We didn’t get our t-​shirts (apparently because we registered as a group) The only member of our group to get a shirt was the group leader, who had registered and paid for the whole group, the rest of us didn’t have any shirt info on our bibs, so no shirts (our race fee was supposed to include a shirt, our group leader entered shirt info for all of us at registration, and we registered in time for shirts). Turned out that someone brilliant decided to print black ink on a black shirt so they looked like shit and so we decided not to try to get our shirts.
4. They started us late, we waited in the rain for an extra 10 – 15 minutes (this was the most understandable frustration, and the problem least in Terrapin’s control)
5. Terrapin shut down the course more than an HOUR before ALL of their materials said. A FULL HOUR. That’s right folks, many of us were left without water or a safe place to run for the last 3 – 4 miles of the race. Thank you Terrapin.
6. There was no free beer at the end. The race website said that each runner got two beers, but when I got to the end there was just one beer tent with $ 4 signs all over it. $ 4 does not equal free.
7. There wasn’t even water at the end. That’s right again folks, no water for the last few miles of the race and no water at the end. The post race «party» was still going (the costume contest was still going even), but the people manning the water tent said that they didn’t have any water left.
The race website and pre-​race-​email said that runners would have 3.5 hours to run the course. I’m not the speediest, but running a 3.5 hour half marathon is very achievable, and as the race got closer I figured I’d be able to run it in close to 3. Terrapin shut down the course just after the 2 hour mark, that’s not even 12 minute miles people. The first indication that there was a change in timing was an announcement made while we were waiting in the start corral. That’s a little too late to adjust your pacing.
This was my first Terrapin event, and it will be my last.
This was my first Half Marathon and it was an extremely frustrating experience. I came in just above 3 hours, but I had to wait for several traffic lights because Terrapin closed down the course more than an HOUR before they said they would.
You would think that a group calling themselves Terrapin would be a little kinder to those of us who run a little slower, but you’d be wrong.
Thanks Terrapin! You stink.

This review is for the Gay Pride Run and Run Like Hell. Overall — easy online registering, fun events, and OK pricing. Run like Hell was super fun. I’m glad the steaper pricing included some free small bites to eat and BEER! Yay beer! I will certainly be participating in further events.

I was in town visiting a friend and figured I do a half marathon while I am in Portland. I thought the price was incredibly cheap for some reason considering some other races. However, I soon found the reason why it was so inexpensive.
The beginning of the race was incredibly unorganized! I was so surprised, a bunch of high schoolers could have done a better job, no offense to you youngins.
There were not a lot of people guiding which may or may not have confused you as to where to go but you eventually get the idea, I just hate that feeling of wondering where to go next.
The food and beer at the end. You HAD to have gotten both beers otherwise you were not able to get another. It was a pain since I wanted food and beer. I essentially had to finish one beer and head to the food table which they gave you ¼ of a burrito. Great. I grab my burrito, half of a bruised up banana, and a few orange slices.
Going back to the amount of people who helped. They had 2 – 3 people at compost stations telling you where to throw your trash away. Was it really necessary to have that rather than people on the trail instead? I am just being picky and maybe not in a good mood.

I am no Kara Goucher but I have ran a share of races in my years. I also happen to have a soft spot for the Cinco De Mayo race that Terrapin coordinates, because it is the race that popped my racing cherry.
The fact that a half marathon was recently introduced was an added bonus and it made it easy to part with the $ 60 to enter.
Aside from the race packets being thoughtless and cheap, the day of the race was a giant cluster-​fuck. 5kers and 10kers confused about where to start and finish. Directional signs and volunteers were nowhere in sight. I had to downgrade to the 5k after ripping my knee to shreds during training and watched as the winner of the half marathon came barreling down the street. The second place winner was confused and thought that the finish was the start of the 5k. When he realized what he had done, he stormed off and didn’t even bother to finish. Rightfully so. If I was that close to winning a race and the lack of volunteers and planning prevented me from it, I’d be headbutting a bitch. He was not the only one who was confused, I watched in horror as a couple of others made the same mistake.
I PR’d the shit out of this race regardless of my fluid ridden knee, and almost puked when I made it to the finish line. When I went to go fetch my well deserved beer, I was disappointed to see it was Hef and a Red Hook Pilsner. It’s Cinco De Mayo! You have Mexican singers and Jamaican beer? After all, we did pay $ 60.
I will say that I was pleased to see Pepinos instead of Azteca this year on the catering front. The half burritos they served were as flavorless and bland as this entire race was and in the end, I found myself missing the good looking tacos that Azteca served in the past.
Yes, I PR’d and I was happy, but Terrapin really needs to get their act together when it comes to organization.

In the last year, I’ve taken up running. Actually that is an overstatement. I have every intention of becoming a runner (really I do, it is even a New Year’s resolution), but somehow finding the time to run on a regular basis (especially during our cold Portland Winters) just doesn’t happen.
But, this doesn’t prevent me from signing up for races as a motivational tool. And since I am both stubborn and frugal, it means I actually participate whether I’m prepared or not.
Running a 5k no problem. Completing a marathon with NO training — not recommended.
I’ve participated in five events in the last year and each had a different organizer. Yesterday, Bridge to Bridge to Brews was a Terrapin Events race and probably my least favorite.
What I’ve learned is that not all races are created equal. It is not just the course, but event planning and logistics (parking, sponsors, refreshments and vibe). Widmer Brothers was a great sponsor, but parking was a major problem (nothing set aside for racers and the railroad lot across the street threatened to tow). The post-​race party was in the Widmer loading dock and it was cold. The last thing you want to do after a race is freeze. During the 8k race there was only one refreshment station and they just had water (every other race has had a few options).
And I like a little entertainment to distract me from the pain of the race, so I was a little bummed there wasn’t more entertainment, volunteers along the course to cheer you on, or people in crazy costumes participating.
I’m running in the next Terrapin race in a couple weeks, Cinco de Mayo, and this time I’ll get some practice runs in ahead of time. Really I will.