The Start to Mile 2
You did a good job of laying out your gear the night before, and you stayed off of your feet as much as possible. When you woke up, you jumped into all of your gear and were ready to go an hour before the pistol fires.
Get in the Line-up: The Portland Marathon officially starts at 7:00AM. You'll be so nervous your first time that you'll be ready to go at 5:00AM. Don't get there before 6:30AM.
Why? Because you're a Marathon WALKER. The starting chute has large signs that read "Five-Minute Pace and slower". Fifty feet farther back is another sign reading "Six-Minute Pace and slower". You are looking for the sign that reads "15-Minute Pace and slower". It'll be about two miles back. Oops, two BLOCKS back from the start. It'll be so dark at that time of morning, you'll think you're two miles from the start. Everybody feels the same and wants to crowd forward. Find the appropriate sorting sign and mill around somewhere behind it and wait.
And wait some more: You'll hear a speech by our Mayor. It goes something like this: "Welcome Marathoners! Ziz glah faah! SisfoooOOOoo! Ecky-ecky nee-wom! Good luck!" You'll hear cheering from the pack nearest the start line. It's from experienced runners who understand "Distorted Megaphone English". It's a subset of Standard English that I've never bothered to learn. Just applaud when everyone else does. I usually double-check my shoelaces during the speech, and make sure my underwear isn't bunching up.
There will follow some legitimate cheering from the start, at 6:58AM. It's for the Wheelchair athletes. They always get a two-minute head-start and deservedly so. You don't want to be in front of them because you'd end up playing the role of a Bowling Pin.
The Starting Gun: You'll hear the pistol go off, and your instinct says Go Go Go! But the Portland Marathon uses timing chips. All runners and walkers must pass over a narrow chip-reading pad to "officially" begin the Marathon. It's a choke point that takes the crowd ahead some time to clear. I walk a 15-minute/mile pace, so I'm far back in the pack. It's taken me up to seven minutes to cross the chute and be on my way.
The First Mile: Whee! Finally walking - smack into other people. You'll spend a lot of time the first mile dodging other walkers. It always happens that slower people got in front of you. Maybe they're looking around for their walking buddies, lost in the darkness. Shoes come untied, underwear bunches up… For whatever reasons, you end up walking left and right around knots of slower walkers. It takes a while for the crowd to disperse. You'll be dodging slower walkers the entire way because your training was Superior.
Mile One To Mile Two: Along this stretch, several interesting things happen. You'll take a pair of sharp right turns at Mile 1, then cross under the Steel Bridge and reverse direction from north to south.
You'll pass your first water station. It's under a bridge and DARK there. Volunteers will call out: "Gatorade!" or "Water!". Grab a cup of water or sports drink and swallow at least a mouthful. Make it a habit to grab a 'cuppa' at EVERY station. The rest of the day, you'll lose more fluids than you take in. Postpone that net loss as long as you can.
Grab a cup, take a swig, toss the cup on the ground. It's OK to litter! Don't drink the whole cup if it's too full for you. Chuck it when you're done and focus on the next mile. Volunteers will rake up discarded cups after you pass.
Do aim for the trashcans. If your cup isn't empty, dump it in the gutter before you toss it at the trash pile. Don't splash water on other walkers or the volunteers. They might trip you later.
Mile 2: You'll see the first Wheelchair Athletes whiz by on the opposite of the street. They're at Mile Five by then, heading north. You'll see them coming because of the motorcycle police escorts. Everybody cheers and applauds as these chair-enabled athletes pass. Shortly behind are the first Marathon runners. We usually cheer them too, especially the first lady runners…
You are warmed up by now. It's cold at the start, so lots of people wear sweatshirts. If you have non-walking friends handy, you might have them waiting along this part of the route to collect extra gear. Seasoned runners/walkers raid the Goodwill Store for a cheap sweatshirt that they simply discard. You'll find lots of clothing along the street. Marathon volunteers collect these cast-offs later.
It's along this stretch that you'll also pass the first musical acts. Portland Marathon is famous for the musical interludes along the route. Big Band, Choir Bells, Jazz, Marimba, Folk, Rock, Grunge, Gospel, Bagpipes… It truly lightens your feet.
Next Up: The First Hill, Mile 2.5 To Mile 12
