Paula and Dave Harkin are the well-known ambassadors for Portland’s thriving running community. Serving as mentors to thousands of new and seasoned athletes through their retail stores, race events and coaching, there’s not a runner in the Portland area who has not heard of the Harkins!
The couple opened the Portland Running Company in 2000 with Dave at the helm, while Paula focused on growing RunwithPaula Events. Paula’s popular races – the Helvetia Half Marathon (multiple time winner Best Half Marathon – Competitor NW), the Hippie Chick Half Marathon (multiple time winner Best All Women’s Event – Competitor NW), the Crawfish Crawl, Pints to Pasta (multiple time winner Best 10K – Competitor NW), and the West Linn Turkey Trot – gained national notoriety and attracted hundreds-of-thousands of runners from throughout Oregon and the United States. In 2013, the Harkins sold their award-winning races to the Hood to Coast Series.
The team is now focused on expanding their running community outside the Portland area and is excited to kick-off four new races this year: the Volcano Half Marathon, the Independence Day 10K, Bridge of the Goddess Half Marathon and Newport Bay to Brews Half Marathon.
In their “free time,” you will find Paula and Dave – running! Paula has run every single day for the past 6+ years and is a registered member of the United States Running Streak Association. Dave is a competitive runner and winner of many local races, including Hagg Lake 25K, Cascade Half Marathon 10K, Vancouver Lake Half Marathon, Heartbreaker Half Marathon, and many more. They are also parents to two children, both attending universities in Oregon.