I've noticed on other Mario games that they start the timer on the first input with Mario. (NSMBW, SMW,) For this game and Mario wii, you first gain control of Mario on the W1 map, which is where the timer starts on NSMBW.
Starting the timer here allows you to have faster restarts (as long as you never save) because then you load up a file and it takes you to the point where you gain control of Mario.
You then can sit at the w1 start for as long as you want until you're ready to press 'right' and start timer.
I do realize this would make many runs invalid if you adopted this but I'm just throwing it out there.
Haha interesting, when new super mario bros wii was being run awhile back they always started with file select except for SDA submissions. I guess they changed their mind. Considering there's 20+ runs already I would suggest just using the intro time to play pokemon go or something.
Personally I think speedruns look weird when they don't start from a new file but I understand where you're coming from.
