The race starts and ends at the Tom McCall Waterfront Park at Salmon Street and Naito Parkway, and includes several bridge crossings and multiple iconic landmarks in Portland.

In 1991, Japan's Hiromi Yokoyama set the women's course record with her time of 2:36:40 hours.

[1] In 1997, the men's course record of 2:17:21 hours was set by German runner Uli Steidl.

[2] Following a misconduct investigation in 2018 by the Oregon Department of Justice related to long-time race management personnel, the City of Portland issued a Request for Proposals to solicit a new race production firm to take over management of the event.

It was announced in July 2019 that Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) will be the presenting sponsor of the event for multiple years.