When/Where to Portland Fit?
Our season runs from late February through early October. Members pay to join our program every year (alumni get a discounted membership).
| Next Orientation Sessions: Saturday, March 30 @ 8a Saturday, April 6 @8a |
Location: Portland Running Company SW Scholls Ferry Rd & SW Nimbus Beaverton, OR |
During the Season…
When: Every Saturday from late February through October. First few weeks start at 8am. Watch our training schedule for varying start times as our mileage increases.
Where: Portland Running Company in Beaverton (SW Scholls Ferry & SW Nimbus, just West of Hwy 217)
During the week, participants train on their own whenever and wherever they can according to our training schedule. On the weekend, our members are strongly encouraged to join us at our group meeting location on Saturdays at Portland Running Company in Beaverton. We offer a brief seminar on a training specific topic and have ability-based training runs and walks to complete our long session of the week. Please read our “How to Portland Fit” page for more details.
Starting in 2013, Portland Fit offers two start groups at our one location (we previously met in two places). One grop starts in late February and another group consists of folks starting in late March. Members interested in only half marathons start with us in February and run or walk the Rock’n'Roll Half and/or the Helvetia Half. After that, some have met their goals and stop attending. Others (our favorites!) stick with us to maintain their fitness level, but don’t ever run or walk more than 13 miles (half marathon). They just cut their route short or skip our extra-long benchmark days. Members joining in March can participate in the Helvetia Half or any number of summer half marathons and will also be ready for the Portland Marathon or other fall marathon.
Members training for a full marathon stay with the training schedule and perform longer and longer training runs or walks as they build up to their ultimate goal of a marathon. The training also works quite nicely for folks training for Hood to Coast — stay on our schedule and you’ll be perfectly trained for the fun and challenging Hood to Coast Relay.
No matter how you plan to incorporate Portland Fit into your summer fitness plans, all our members meet on Saturday mornings at Portland Running Company in Beaverton. Please consult our training schedule for start times as they may be color group dependent. Participants in our half marathon training may continue with our regular training group after the 12-week half program is over in May. There is no charge for continuing with the main program.
31 Comments
Deedee
24 Apr 2012 10:04 pm
Are we supposed to sign up for the half marathon ourselves, or do you have a group rate/team? Thanks.
John
25 Apr 2012 09:04 am
If you are talking about the Rock'n'Roll Half, I don't think there is a special deal. We used to be able to use discount code PORTLANDFIT (or PORTLAND FIT), but not sure it still works. For Helvetia, yes you need to sign up and yes, there is a discount. Please read our blog roll and look for the post about the special onsite Helvetia sign-up (and discount).
Leslie
30 May 2012 10:05 am
Do you still have a group that leaves at 8AM on Saturdays and run a lesser amount of miles each week?
John
31 May 2012 10:05 am
We haven't started that group this season. If it happens, we usually do that after the Helvetia Half. Do you think we should try it again this season? We haven't done it every year....
Joann Brown
04 Sep 2012 11:09 am
I signed up for Portland Fit this year – unfortunately life happened and I didn’t get out the door for training. Can I use my membership fee for next year? I really want to start out on the right foot.
John
29 Dec 2012 02:12 pm (@undefined)
Sorry, Joann -- we are unable to transfer memberships from year-to-year. But we do hope you decide to come out again this season. Let's all make 2013 the year we start out on the right foot. And then the left...
Rebecca
19 Dec 2012 08:12 pm
Why the change from the convenient NW 21st and Raleigh location?
John
29 Dec 2012 01:12 pm
Several reasons. Our routes were getting a little stale, most of our members live on the West side, and we got an offer we couldn't refuse from our friends at Portland Running Company. We also have high permit fees and other costs operating out of downtown. We look forward to seeing everyone in Beaverton this season.
Kathy Peterman
27 Dec 2012 07:12 pm
Is there no longer a training location in the NW for Portland Fit? I went to look for when training starts and didn’t see a NW location listed.
John
29 Dec 2012 01:12 pm
That's correct -- we're meeting at PRC in Beaverton this season.
Casey
30 Dec 2012 10:12 am
That is a major bummer you have moved so far to the West Side. I really enjoyed your program this year but won’t be back for 2013 with that location change. Seems unfair.
John
01 Jan 2013 11:01 pm (@undefined)
We're sorry the new location won't work for you. Making a location change is something that we try to avoid, but every so often it must be done for one reason or another. And it's harder than you think to find an acceptable location. I hope you find some way to stay fit and motivated. Thanks for being a member at Portland Fit while you could. And stay fit.
Kali
01 Jan 2013 03:01 pm
So, you will no longer be meeting in NW Portland? I might cry. Please tell me it is not so.
John
01 Jan 2013 11:01 pm (@undefined)
Alas, it is so. We hope you'll be able to join us in Beaverton!
Kali
01 Jan 2013 03:01 pm
I have been with Pfit for 4 great years. I lost almost 70lbs during my time with you and have gained so much wisdom along the way. I have been recruiting friends for this season, but Beaverton is going to be a deal breaker. The move to Beaverton may mean the end of my time with PFIt as well. I am sad about this. Pfit is a wonderful program and I wish nothing but the best for you.
John
01 Jan 2013 11:01 pm (@undefined)
Members like you are what makes participating in Portland Fit worth while! Thanks for your contributions to Portland Fit and we're glad you got as much out of it as you did. We're sorry the new location won't work for you and your friends. Good luck with your healthy lifestyle and stay fit.
Steve
04 Jan 2013 03:01 pm
I been a Portland Fit member for the past 4 years. Because of the move, it will be to far for me to attend. The Vancouver Fit location is closer. Could I receive the returning member discount with Vancouver Fit?
John
08 Jan 2013 10:01 am
Yes you can! But check out their website as they start earlier than we do. But it's not too late!
Sarah
21 Jan 2013 10:01 am
I am also sad to loose the NW location. According to your graph, the Beaverton site is a whopping 2 minutes closer to my home; however, I’m sad to lose the chance to get out of suburbia for my weekend runs. I’ve gladly made the trek every weekend. In the future, I’d vote to return to the NW site.
Hector
09 Feb 2013 05:02 pm
Hello – I just became a PFit member and am very excited about this group once again. With the change to PRC and not being familiar with that area, will the majority of running take place on the nearby trails or through the neighborhoods or combination of both? I looked for information on the site, but wasn’t able to find any… thanks for your reply.
John
11 Feb 2013 04:02 pm
Keep an eye out on our BLOG page and in our weekly email, but in general we'll be using the Fanno Creek Trail as our main thoroughfare. http://www.portlandfit.com/2013/01/13/fanno-creek-trail/
Lynn
19 Feb 2013 12:02 pm
We’ve done PFit for 6 years. We didn’t join last year for various reasons. We were ready to join again this year but because of tax season and work requirements, we can’t begin until mid-April. In the past this didn’t really matter much as we only would miss two or three weeks. With the early start this year we’ll be missing nearly two months of training before we can join in. Are you going to be posting your routes so we can try and work on our own to do the weekly training so we can be up to snuff by mid-April when we can participate (after tax season and working 6 day weeks)? Thank you!
John
19 Feb 2013 03:02 pm
We won't be posting our actual routes every week, but our training schedule will be on our website. We may post our routes/maps on our site someplace, but they won't necessarily correlate to where we're running every Saturday. But I think you care more about the schedule than our actual routes if I'm reading this right. We are contemplating a "late start" program to help folks catch up that want to join later, but we haven't ironed out all the kinks. If you are running or walking good weekly mileage, we can make it work in mid-April. Good luck and stay fit!
Julie
20 Feb 2013 08:02 pm
I really want to join, but I am not sure about the new location. Is it OK to come out this Saturday and test out the location without paying? I want to make sure it’s feasible to make the drive every Saturday before making a payment. Thanks!
John
21 Feb 2013 09:02 am
Sounds like a good plan. Thanks for giving us a chance! See you Saturday.
Shannon
21 Feb 2013 01:02 pm
Hey, I’m one that loves the new location. I made the trek from the west side to NW in years past, and the new location will be great! can’t wait to get started. see you Saturday!
John
21 Feb 2013 02:02 pm
Shannon, you just made our day. Thank you!
melissa
22 Feb 2013 08:02 am
I am super bummed you moved it out to the burbs
I will NOT be returning this year. This sucks!
John
22 Feb 2013 08:02 am
Sorry it won't work for you, Melissa. We hope you find a way to stay fit!
Katie Gibbs
01 Apr 2013 08:04 am
I am yet another person who was going to sign up again this year, but now will not because of the location change. Downtown was fair to both east-siders and west-siders. I refuse to drive out to the suburbs, and think that the running routes out there would be boring anyway — suburbia instead of our vibrant city, the waterfront, etc. I can’t believe you guys did this.
Can you help facilitate us city folk if we try to assemble a Portland version of Portland Fit? It seems there are many who would participate if it were back in the city.
Also, you might want to change your name from Portland Fit to Beaverton Fit now.
John
01 Apr 2013 12:04 pm
Katie -- thanks for the comment. While we've previously discussed this, I'll answer it again here.
You "think the routes would be boring." But that is just your misconception. Others thought our routes in downtown were boring as we ran at least 3 miles in industrial district every Saturday as we left and returned to our parking lot homebase. We did get to run on the waterfront which is great. But we've heard from a bunch of folks that our new Beaverton routes are also great. We get to see new areas, every route we've done has a pathway free of traffic or other dangers, and we'll get to visit the Nike campus and other Beaverton destinations/trails/lakes/scenery that will be fantastic.
Downtown also presented some other problems: (a) there were lots of others using the waterfront (runners, bikers, walkers) and Portland Fit would often get blamed for bad etiquette or other issues just because we were the biggest single user on Saturday mornings; (b) we had high permit costs to use the waterfront by the Portland Parks (a single group like us has to pay permits to use the park); (c) our homebase area is tagged for re-development, so the area was not going to be conducive to meet in going forward (if we didn't move this year, it would have been next year -- we'd rather maintain some control over when we had to leave).
When Portland Fit first started in 1997, we met at Tualatin Hills Recreation Center (NW 185th in Beaverton). We then met at Tigard High School for 4 years. It wasn't until at least our fifth year that we actually met in Portland. Our members come from all over the metropolitan area, so we have no plans for a name change.
Once we have some time to analyze our new location and plan for next year, we'll see what happens. Lots of our USA FIT brethren in other cities do meet in more than one location. That was logistically impossible this year but something we have offered in years past. So who knows.
I'm sorry the new location doesn't work for you. On the one hand, I'm pleased that Portland Fit means enough to you that you'd take the time to comment and express your disappointment. The hardest part of any move (we've moved at least four times) is disappointing our great members that can't make the transition with us -- that hurts.
Portland Fit is a big part of my life and I try hard to make it the best it can be as I have for 16 years. But it's not my full time job (nor anyone else's), so there are limitations. Organizing Portland Fit means making some decisions. Not all of those are going to please everybody. I'm very sorry you landed on the wrong side of this one.
Good luck with your fitness this season and hopefully we can run or walk together again in the future.
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