The first mile of Sunday’s Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon was a bit of an adventure.

Blame it on the stormy weather — windy conditions, a steady rain, cold temperatures, dark and cloudy skies — that greeted the large field for the 28th annual event at Rosedale Road and the Silverado Trail in Calistoga at 7 o’clock in the morning.

“When I started off it was ominous,” said Alex Tilson. “It was slow, conditions were bad and we were cold. I wasn’t pushing it hard. You’re always concerned, as you never know if it’s going to get worse.”

Tilson, who makes his home in Burlingame, wasn’t out to try and attain a personal record or a fast time in the difficult conditions that presented runners at times with a head wind. Instead, the Stanford University graduate took a conservative approach and not only battled the elements, but overcame a slow first mile and gradually pulled away from the lead pack to win in the Road Runners Club of America’s National Marathon Championship.

Tilson’s time of 2 hours, 32 minutes, 17 seconds on the point-to-point course from Calistoga to Napa is several minutes off his PR (2:21:18), but he nonetheless will gladly take his third career marathon win; he also won marathons in Lowell, Mass., in 1997 and Wooster, Mass., in 1999. He was presented with a finisher’s medal upon crossing the finish line at Vintage High School and will receive his “weight in wine” from the Silverado Trail Wineries Association.

“One of the essences of running is that it’s a humbling experience, because you rarely win,” said Tilson, 35, who got his MBA from Harvard and works as a consultant for product development in the medical field. “They say that if you’re a football, baseball or basketball player, you win about half the time. But in running, there are two people that are going to win today out of 2,000. It’s nice when you get it because it doesn’t happen often. And I think when you’re in your mid-30’s you know that those days are increasingly rare.”

This year’s marathon — sponsored for the first time by Kaiser — had 2,051 registered entrants and 1,438 finishers. KPIX TV-Channel 5 weather anchor Roberta Gonzales advised runners before the start to “run safely, watch your step because it is a bit on the slippery side, stay hydrated, and just have fun along the journey.”

Shortly after John Keston, 81, who is from Sunriver, Ore., and is in the USA Track & Field Hall of Fame for masters runners, sang the national anthem, race officials started the wheelchair entrants, who were followed by the full field.

Duncan Larkin of Exton, PA., was second (2:36:48), David Monk of Vacaville was third (2:37:10), Bob Shebest of Windsor was fourth (2:41:07), Josh Small of San Jose finished fifth (2:41:16), Steve Goddard of San Mateo was sixth (2:43:30), and Jim Scattini of Salinas was seventh (2:44:24).

Juan Sanchez of St. Helena was the top Napa Valley finisher, taking eighth place (2:44:30), Michael Goralka of Carson City, Nev., was ninth (2:44:46), and Brian Kildow of Encinitas was 10th (2:46:59).

The slowest mile the entire race was the first mile, said Tilson, who clocked a 6:05. His fastest mile split was a 5:35.

“The wind wasn’t as bad as I thought and the rain wasn’t a big deal,” said Tilson. “I’m from Oregon, so the rain isn’t a big deal. The biggest thing is you’re always worried on the edge of cold. That was a concern. I think I was on the edge. I was concerned that I would go from being cool to cold. As it goes on you get concerned that your socks get mushy and things get a little sore down in your shoes, but it was OK.

“Obviously, that first mile is the slowest first mile I’ve run in 20 years.”

Tilson, who qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, said he expected to run faster, as he wanted a time of around 2:27.

“I don’t know to the degree to which the conditions slowed me down,” he said. “I expected to run faster, but I didn’t fade, which is a good thing. The weather its certainly on your mind but it shouldn’t effect me worse than anyone else. I was trying to run within myself given the conditions.”

No one was around to push Tilson, as he pulled out to a lead of 6/10ths of a mile at the 11-mile mark. He was in front by a minute, 15 seconds at 14 miles. Tilson was smooth and steady as he attacked the last long, gradual hill out of Yountville at speeds of 9 and 10 mph.

“There are times where I’ve run marathons where I said I need to run a certain time and I would push myself at that pace to the point of complete exhaustion,” said Tilson, who trained hard for the last eight weeks. “That wasn’t the goal today. The goal today was to run a reasonable pace and try to be up front. That dictated that there’s no reason to take big chances on the pace. Today was a day to err on the side of being conservative. There was no reason to go much harder.”

It was Tilson’s first Napa Valley Marathon. It was also one of the worst weather wise. Volunteers and officials did excellent work assisting and looking out for the runners despite the inclement conditions.

“In the pantheon of marathons it’s one of the special ones,” said Tilson, the national 50K record holder. “It’s nice to be here, it’s nice to run a respectable race and it’s nice to win.”

A staff consisting of physicians, physical therapists, podiatrists, nurses, medical assistants and administrative staff treated runners for being cold, muscle cramps, blisters and for possible hypothermia in a classroom near the finish line. There were 13 aid stations on the course.

“The longer you’re out there the more likely it is for you to get cold and develop blisters and develop complications,” said Dr. Todd Weitzenberg, a sports medicine physician with Kaiser Permanente. “The longer you’re out obviously the more you’re exposed to the cold, the more friction you’re going to have with your socks. As time goes on the injury rate goes up.

“We have a really good set of volunteers, spread out throughout the entire course.”

Chris Houde of Carmichael was the first wheelchair finisher, clocking a time of 2:50:51. Matt Bailey was leading the wheelchair division, but dropped out of the race at the 15-mile mark due to a blister on his right hand.

“No matter how hard you train, race day is race day,” said Bailey, who is from Reno, Nev., and was racing in his first NVM. “There are no guarantees. This is a prime example. I didn’t expect to have a blister on my hand. The wetness of the race on my push rings caused the gloves to slip, and that’s what I had a problem with.”

It was only the fourth time in the race’s 28-year history that the NVM has had issues with weather, as it’s usually conducted in clear, dry and cold conditions. Those who finished in under 51/2 hours got a finisher’s medal, all others received a participant’s medal.

Despite the poor conditions, it was probably the smoothest race the NVM has ever had in terms of having very few incidents on the course, said David Hill, a race director.

“We did well. We stuck with our ability to take people off the course at 51/2 hours,” said Hill. “We gave people the option of getting on the bus and coming in or continuing on the course.”