Cascade Half Marathon

The Cascade Half Marathon takes place every January in Turner, Oregon, a small farming community in the Willamette Valley near Salem. Now in roughly its third decade, the event also includes a 10K and a 2-mile run, all on the same flat, out-and-back course along paved country roads between Turner and Aumsville. The half marathon offers a standard 9:00 AM start plus an 8:30 AM early-start option for slower runners; both start and finish at Cascade High School, the race's host and beneficiary. The route crosses open farmland with water stations along the way, and a 12:00 PM course cutoff gives half marathon finishers a three-hour time limit. Afterward, runners warm up in the school cafeteria with hot soup, coffee, and cookies. Every finisher gets a medal, and age-group winners are recognized three-deep in 10-year brackets for the half marathon and 10K. Proceeds support Cascade High School's track and field program and scholarships for graduating seniors from the mid-Willamette Valley. Race day is typically cold, often in the 30s Fahrenheit at the 9:00 AM start, so runners dress in layers for the exposed farmland course.