The month of October has just begun, but Halloween is still several weeks away. So before you start handing out candy to Trick-Or-Treaters and going to haunted houses, check out these events around the Portland area.

  Portland Marathon

Known as one of the best marathons in North America, the Portland Marathon is one of the city’s flagship athletic events. The run attracts thousands of participants annually and the returning volunteers and event organizers are hoping for another great year of running. Registration for the run is closed, but feel free to watch the runners or greet them at the finish line. The starting gun will go off at 7 a.m. Sunday at.

McMenamins Oktoberfest

Just in case you didn’t make it to Oaks Park in time, McMenamins will be holding its annual Oktoberfest celebration at its Grand Lodge location in Forest Grove Saturday. The event will feature five different bands and musicians, playing between 1-10 p.m. Go for the food or to just experience the German festival.

‘The Martian’

Director Ridley Scott has created some of the most successful sci-fi pictures of all time, but his more recent releases have kept him out of the spotlight. However, from the looks of critics’ opinions, “The Martian” could be Scott’s re-emergence. The film already has ratings exceeding 90 percent on rotten tomatoes and has a rating of 8.5 on IMDb. Rated PG-13, every Lincoln student will be able to see the Matt Damon and Jessica Chastain thriller as early as today. Be sure to catch the film before it’s out of theaters.