Marathon party

First Mile kicks off training season for the Tulsa Triple

It may be a bit too hot outside these days to think about running a marathon, but for both the amateur and experienced runner, it is just about time to start preparations for the fall season of competitive races in Tulsa. 

That is the message that will be conveyed at the fifth annual First Mile event on Thurs., June 30 at Fleet Feet Sports’ Blue Dome district store at 418 E. 2nd St. (at the corner of S. Frankfort Ave.) in downtown Tulsa, from 5:30-8:00 p.m.

Jointly hosted by the Williams Route 66 Marathon, the Tulsa Run and Fleet Feet Sports, the night serves as the kickoff for training for what is now known as the Tulsa Triple – the Fleet Feet quarter-marathon (or 10K race, which is in September), the Tulsa Run half-marathon (which has a 15K or a 5K component, in October) and the Williams Route 66 Marathon (which includes a 5K, a half-marathon, and of course, a full marathon, in November). 

Following the initial one-mile or three-mile run, the First Mile event is basically a party featuring live entertainment, food prepared by Jeff Marlow with the Eastern Oklahoma Foot Bank, other food trucks, snow cones, beer and inflatable water slides for the kids. 

“It’s kind of a kickoff event to start the training cycle for the marathon and also for the Tulsa Run,” explains Tim Dreiling, co-owner of the Fleet Feet Sports store downtown (as well as two others in the Tulsa metro area). “It’s really just kind of a way to raise awareness about those events and to get people in the mindset that it’s time to get serious and commit to a training program, since both races are endurance events. You don’t just turn up and run a 15K, half-marathon or marathon. And it’s kind of a fun party, a way to celebrate the events and get that keystone introduction point that, ‘Hey, it’s time to start thinking about this again,’ and to show that we’ve got some training programs to offer and how to help people get started.”

Dreiling points out that the First Mile is a pretty low-intensity event, with more emphasis on the party aspect than the actual running. 

“It’s more of a fun run, more social than just training,” he said. “The course that we run is downtown, and that’s kind of nice, because we kind of hit the start line for both the Tulsa Run and the Route 66 Marathon and cover a tiny bit of the course – it’s not really a course preview, but it’s in the same neighborhood. And then when people come back from their workouts, we have refreshments and food, the band is playing, and it’s a really nice time. We usually have a pretty robust turnout, from 300-500 people.”

The best thing about First Mile is that it is free to all participants. You don’t even need to sign up beforehand, although it would be nice if people planning to attend RSVP’d on their Facebook event page, off the Route 66 Marathon Facebook page. Runners will have to sign a waiver. 

Of course, there will be a fee if runners want to take advantage of Fleet Feet’s customized workout programs that help build a training regimen to prepare for any of the individual components of the Tulsa Triple (or all three). There are also entry fees to run in each of those individual races. 

For more from John, read his article on Tulsa Tough.