Nordic Walking will make its marathon debut Oct. 9, 2005 at the Portland Marathon in Portland, Ore., with LEKI USA as an official sponsor of the new category. The Portland Marathon already ranks among the most walker-friendly
marathons in the United States with 28% of last year's finishers being walkers.
The 7 a.m. starting gun of the 34th running of the Portland Marathon will kick off the first event in the country to support walkers using Nordic Walking poles. “Our company is honored to partner with a high-profile event like the Portland Marathon, which attracts a high concentration of dedicated walkers,” said LEKI USA vice president Greg Wozer. “This is the perfect
venue to introduce Nordic Walking to a large number of people.”
The Portland Marathon, consistently ranked among the country's top marathons, prides itself on being a people's event, which does not pay prize or appearance money to elite competitors. Last year, the Portland Marathon
raised more then $2 million for charity.
Walkers make up a growing segment of the Portland entrants. In 1989, only
about 5% of participants — 300 of 5,700 — were walkers. Last year,
2,412 of 8,530 finishers were walkers. “Walkers are the future,” Les Smith,
race director of the Portland Marathon, told Runner's World magazine in Nov.
2004. “It's not a marathon anymore; it's a multifaceted event. And the
people who do our races are not just runners. They're participants. We
welcome them.”
