City Hall is taking applications for the 2018 Portland Marathon. And they're due one week from today.

The embattled event, which was effectively scrapped when the Portland Marathon Board called it quits and dissolved in the face of city officials asking them to submit an official bid to host the run, will now go on as planned if a suitable organizer comes forward, the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Mayor Ted Wheeler's office announced in a joint statement Friday.

The managerial churn began when the Oregon Department of Justice found that former Portland Marathon Organizer Les Smith had illegally borrowed thousands of dollars from the nonprofit that operates the event and ordered him to pay back $850,000.

That nonprofit, headed by the Portland Marathon Board, decided it would keep running the event, but only if it was allowed to do so without fear of the city opening up a bidding process for 2019 and beyond.

City Hall didn't relent. And the Portland Marathon Board decided to dissolve, which prompted city leaders to solicit bids for this year and next. The 2018 run is scheduled for Oct. 7, per a release.

PBOT and the mayor's office in the joint statement said interested parties would need to apply to run this year's marathon and future events separately.

A questionnaire attached to the application asks whether aspiring marathon organizers have ever produced a "local, large scale athletic event" in the Portland area with more than 2,000 participants, amid other things.

City officials also want to know if organizers could recruit at least 170 volunteers to staff the barricades and whether they'd be willing to use the 2017 Portland Marathon route.

Applicants will also need to prove they can provide a $25,000 deposit to host the event. Submissions that meet the qualifications will be tossed into a "blind draw," which city officials will conduct June 1.

And if they're interested in hosting it in 2019 and beyond?

There's a different application for that.

--Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344

ecampuzano@oregonian.com