It was a Soggy Start For This Year's Portland Marathon
Oct. 20, 2000
by Walt Amacher
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It's been 20 years since there was a wet Portland Marathon. But like most
records, this one was sure to be broken, and on race-day morning, October 1st,
it was wet, very wet.
" It's typical Portland," said Greer Gerson about the downpour
just before the 7:00 AM start. "It didn't surprise me. It was a little
sloshy to start with, so it created a few blisters. But other than that, once
you got that out of your mind and just focused on what you're doing, it went
out the door."
Since the worst of it was right before the start, the first couple of miles
of puddles and spray were more like adventure racing than road racing. Most
people came prepared, though, with rain gear; trash bag ponchos were the
definite fashion statement of the morning. As the day wore on, the weather
gave everyone a break by drying out, and by afternoon, the late finishers were
enjoying a little sunshine through the clouds.
"I don't think the rain hurt us," said Portland Marathon Race
Director Les Smith. "I think the rain was a little inconvenient and
uncomfortable, but overall, it had a settling effect, and probably in the long
run it helped the temperatures keep the runners from getting into real
trouble."
Despite the weather and in keeping with a recent trend in distance racing,
the Marathon got bigger this year. "It went up 14 percent," said
Smith. "We had 7,777 finishers." There were about 3,500 in the other
events, the Kids' Run, Mayor's Walk, and 5-Miler, according to Smith.
This was the first year the chip was used to time the Marathon, and it
presented new challenges for the race. Smith said that for next year, he would
assign more volunteers to the finish to help collect chips from athletes as
they finish and he would provide more instructions on the use of the chip. He
noted that about 40 of the small devices the athletes attach to their
shoelaces failed and several more were lost. Smith usually gets the problem
calls the morning after the race, and he said they were definitely up this
year. But on the positive side, participants saw their finish times on the web
much sooner than was possible when the results were sent by mail. Smith said
that over 90 percent of the participants use the web.
Less than a minute separated the top two finishers in both the men's and
women's marathon categories this year. The first man to cross the line was
Yoshi Aizawa, 32, of Niigata, Japan, in a time of 2:22:15. Afterward, he spoke
of his problems with the weather.
"It was very bad, slippery. Very hard because it was slippery,"
said Aizawa through an interpreter.
He also said he had competition for most of the race, but made a break at
about 30 kilometers, and led to the finish. It was his fifth marathon. A
fellow countryman, Shinya Morisaki of Tokyo, was a close second in 2:22:50,
and Portland favorite son John Dimoff found the finish in 2:32:06. Lake
Oswego's Bob Shorrock captured first-place in the master's competition with a
time of 2:33:27, and fifth place in the overall competition.
Portland's Lisa Trenholm couldn't stop smiling when she finished first for
the women with a time of 2:58:33. She was also pretty tired, but beamed as the
catchers escorted her to pick up her medal. It was her fifth marathon, and her
first win.
"After about mile ten, I was pretty much by myself," said
Trenholm. I felt like there weren't too many men out there either. There was a
lady behind me, I know, coming up on me."
Yasuko Wagatsuma, of Ibaraki, Japan, was close behind, finishing second in
2:58:56. She was followed by Mercer Island's Erica Koenig with a time of
2:59:11. The fastest master's woman was Cheryl Tronson of Bend, Oregon, who
finished in a time of 3:09:05.
Another happy finisher this year was Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer. A
long-time runner, this was his 20th Portland Marathon.
"It was another terrific experience; a little Portland sunshine at the
beginning sort of set the tone," said the honorable one. "But
people's spirits were great, and it was another superbly organized race. This
is my twenty-eight [marathon] over all, and it wouldn't be quite right if I
missed the Portland marathon."
Also near the finish line was the godfather of sports himself, Phil Knight,
waiting for his wife Penny, who was running her second marathon. When Penny
came in, she joined her husband and waited for the rest of her friends and
family to finish.
"Last time I ran the marathon, it was 85 degrees, and it was way, way
hot," said Ms. Knight. "So today was fabulous; even the rain storm
was great. I feel great this time. I'm here with my daughter-in-law Donna, my
friend Jordan, Donna's sister Debbie, my friend Sandra, and her son Stephen
and my niece Brittany."
Knight looked like he was having a ball. "Oh, it's a great event. It's
one of the best sporting events in the city," he said. He also said it
had been 15 or 16 years since he last ran a marathon, and he laughed when he
said that he didn't miss it that much. But he admitted to still having the
urge. "Always trying to do it again, but it's a distant threat," he
joked.
Race Director Smith is proud that the Marathon serves as a vehicle for
people to get into shape, with groups like Ellie Hodder's Women Walk the
Marathon and Warren and Patti Finke's marathon training program introducing
more and more people to fitness. He is also justly proud of the fundraising
people do on behalf of the many charities that are affiliated with the event.
A new charity this year was Athletes Helping Athletes, based in San Diego,
California. AHA helps kids who have prostheses, and amputations. "They
sent about 50 to 60 people up here," said Smith. "It's their
inaugural marathon for their efforts to support the charity."
For many of the runners and walkers and for the volunteers as well, the
Marathon represents a tradition they look forward to each year. For Sharon
McQuade, formerly from Portland and now living in Seattle, coming back to
Portland to do the race was a pilgrimage of sorts. "It's a people
race," said McQuade. "There's nothing like Portland for running.
There's nowhere this friendly; nowhere you're taken care like this, like in
Portland. It's awesome! There's something for practically everybody."
The Marathon will be on September 30th in 2001. Race Director Smith and his
85-member volunteer race committee have already started planning for what will
be the 30th anniversary of the event. You can get more information by calling
(503) 226-1111 or by looking up
www.portlandmarathon.org
on the Internet.
Smith and the crew will be ready to make it one of your best.
See Event Photos Here!
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