The Odyssey--His & Hers Port-a-Pottys

With about 40 minutes until the start of the marathon, Paul and I made our way towards the hottest attraction...the portable toilets. Although neither one of us really had to go, we had nothing better to do. Of course, the lines were massive so we settled in for yet more people watching as our line inched ever so slowly forward, and sometimes not at all for disturbingly long periods of time.

All around us everyone was WIDE awake and there was a din of nervous chatter. We heard from runners who had trained with the AIDSmarathon and the Leukemia Society. We saw people of just about every age, shape, and size queuing up. One Japanese man, very skinny and wearing all the latest running apparel, carried a plastic bag with a huge lunch plate, or bento box. When, I wondered would he have time to eat that and digest it before the race?

Finally, by the time we got a good look at the toilets, my brother and I agreed that we both had to go. At last our turn was coming up. It was only then that I, and the other women in line around me, realized that all the toilets facing us had signs taped on them that read, "Men" above the universal symbol for the male species. What the..? Who thought it necessary to separate the port-a-pottys into gender specific rows? Now they tell us!

Believe me, with 10 minutes left to the start (yes, we stood in line for 30 minutes!) it was every man and woman for themselves. When nature calls and you have 26.2 miles to run that morning, the niceties go out the window.