The bad part of Mile 20 is The Wall. The good part is that you're heading back into Portland - toward that finish.
Mile 21: You may be too tired to appreciate it, but this is another scenic area of Portland. On a clear day, you can see Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson. The route is lined with nice houses on the left. On the right are the Swan Island Industrial Area and shipyards. Another Aid Station is located here.
Mile 21.5: You approach the main Photograph Zone. The photography staff has signs that warn you in case you want to preen. You'll see a van parked to the right of the road. The back is open and a crew of dudes with expensive cameras will capture your Marathon effort for posterity.
Unfortunately, they always wait until you have a finger in your nose, or shadows make you look 50 pounds heavier. I've learned to cope with that, but so have they. When I look stunning, my photo has someone in the background with THEIR finger up their nose. Seriously, these guys know their stuff and you'll be pleased with the photo.
Mile 22: This is a good place to talk about your pace. Up through Mile 22, you REALLY want to average Sixteen-minute miles or better. The Portland Marathon has a cut-off just before Mile 22 at N. Killingsworth St. If you are on track to finish the Marathon under seven hours, you stay on the 'closed' course. You continue walking in the streets, ignore traffic lights, with vehicle traffic rerouted for you.
If you are one iota slower than sixteen minutes per mile, volunteers behind barricades direct you onto Killingsworth. You are now on the 'open' course, and it sucks out loud! You have to walk on sidewalks, stop for traffic lights, AND the course is one kilometer longer. The Marathon denies the extra length, but I've Been There And I Know. The traffic lights always stay red an extra fifteen seconds on the Open Course. You really want to beat that cut-off.
So you'll pass the cut-off for the 7-hour-plus walkers, take a right turn onto Greely Avenue, hit a hydration station, and go down. I didn't mean you'll fall! You're on a long downhill stretch. All that climbing up the St. Johns Bridge & afterward pays off now. A glorious mile of downhill walking stretches in front of you.
Mile 23: Scenery becomes (again) industrial - a rail yard on the right, wooded hills on the left. Walkers who aren't shy find the access roads to the rail yards useful - the bushes screen them when they have an emergency need to pee.
Mile 23.5: You'll pass beneath the massive arch of the Fremont Bridge - on the East side this time. A right turn takes you onto Interstate Avenue and you'll follow the MAX commuter rail into town. By this time, you'll wish you were on one of those trains each time one passes.
Mile 24: You'll pass beneath the Broadway Bridge, with the huge black box of the Memorial Coliseum on your left. The Winter Hawks hockey team RULES the ice here. Just beyond the coliseum is the Rose Garden Arena. The Portland Trail Blazers basketball team plays here when they are out on Parole.
But you don't care. Your mood by now more closely matches the grey of the grain elevators on the right. Portland is the LEADING wheat exporter on the west coast. As you cross the Steel Bridge, you might see a grain ship on the right taking on this dusty cargo for transport to the Pacific Rim.
Mile 25: Across the Steel Bridge. The ramp on the far side of the bridge is steeper than it looks. You're tired and face it: your downhill muscles never get as much work-out as your uphill muscles. I've seen a walker trip and fall REALLY HARD here. You can't afford to stumble & hurt yourself.
At the base of the bridge, you'll take a sharp right and have a feeling of Deja' Vu. You walked here this morning. You'll pass a Hydration station and a bank of porta-potties. Another right turn onto Font Avenue...
Front Avenue. Mile 1 to Mile 2. You were here this morning, remember? Lots of people to cheer you on? Slower walkers to dodge along the way? It was dark and busy then. Now it's early afternoon, it's quieter, and it seems a LOT longer. You are on The Home Stretch.
Mile 26: You are NOT finished. Two-tenths of a mile to go. Turn right onto Salmon, three more blocks and left onto 3rd-and there's the FINISH two blocks ahead. Spotters will call your name over a PA system. People cheer for you on all sides as you approach. Your heart pounds, your soul soars, you cross the finish. AND…
Congratulations! You've completed a MARATHON.
Next up: AFTER you cross the finish.
