Portland Mayor Sam Adams announced today that he plans to run again in 2012.
“I’ve thought long and hard about it, and it feels like all the pieces are in place,” says Adams. “I have a personal trainer and everything.”
In an exclusive interview with SR last week, the mayor told us about his sweet tooth, and his turbulent battle with Voodoo Doughnut’s clearance rack, “I’m going to start out by laying the ground work for the upcoming run.”
People close to the Mayor says that he’s more focused than ever on making sure that his announcement to run, and running the city won’t be a distraction. “I think Sam has learned a lot over the past two years, and I would be surprised if he wasn’t able to compete in a half marathon by the end of his term in office,” says one insider.
One of the biggest questions is whether his former personal trainer will stand by him after jumping off the wagon with all the Snickers, and sweet treats over the past two years. Nobody wins in politics in this town without Mark Wiener’s running program,” says a City Hall staffer who wished to go unnamed.
Asked if his former personal trainer will be standing by him in 2012, Adams declined to comment. And while to date, Adams hasn’t been lifting any heavy weights, there has been a lot of equipment being moved in and out of the mayor’s office.
Not to be outdone, other possible mayoral candidates are expected to follow suit in the coming weeks, and unveil running programs of their own.
Steve Novick, Charlie Hales, Jim Francesconi, New Seasons’ co-founder Eleen Brady, and others are thought to be recruiting personal trainers around town. All have been seen flexing their muscles at local facilities.
Multnomah County Chairman Jeff Cogen, caught by this reporter at a local salad bar, said he’s been running for years, and feels in top shape to run toe to toe with anybody, even the mayor.
Bike advocates including the Bicycle Transportation Alliance questioned the wisdom of Adams running again in 2012.
“The mayor has done a lot for our two-wheeled community,” says Rob (we can’t ever spell his last name right) Sadowski. “Announcing to run this early might be a little risky. We would have loved to have been involved with the conversations about the mayor’s training plan, and the benefits of cycling.”
A spokesperson for the Portland Department of Transportation declined comment.
One of the questions still lingering is whether the mayor will go with the more powerful Nike, which is based in Beaverton, or the dark horse Adidas, which has its North American headquarters in North Portland — close to Adams running grounds.
Asked which shoe company Adams will be endorsed by, the Mayor says, “It’s hard. Both Nike and Adidas do so much for our community. It’s still too early to determine. It’s possible, I’ll wear one of each — creating a swoosh-like striped base that would be hard to beat in 2012.”
“The reality is, I have a vision and that vision includes running again,” says Adams. “Sometimes you get sidetraked. The last couple of years have been trying times for our city, and I’ll be the first to admit it. I haven’t exercised my best judgement at times. Saying that, I’m more excited than ever to lead Portland into the future, one race at a time.”
