New York Submits Details of Bid for 2008 US Olympic Men's Marathon Trials Bid By David Monti (c) 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW
YORK (09-Jan-2006) -- The New York Road Runners released the details of
their 2008 Olympic Trials - Men's Marathon bid here today, opting for a
separate men-only event to be held two days in advance of the 2007 ING
New York City Marathon. If their bid is accepted, it would be the
first time that an Olympic Trials Marathon was held in New York City.
The
United States is the only country to hold binding Olympic team trials
for the marathon, giving the top-3 finishers provisional berths on the
Olympic team. (Full team status is conferred after any IAAF qualifying
standards are met.) The men's and women's Trials races are usually
held in separate cities on separate dates, and almost always in the
spring. However, the Road Runners see many positives for a fall
Trials, proposed for Nov. 2.
"November has some unique
advantages," Said Mary Wittenberg, president and chief executive
officer of the Road Runners, who would also be the race director for
the event.
Wittenberg cited the publicity which would be
generated by having the men's Trials held in conjunction with the ING
New York City Marathon, the world's largest marathon, which draws the
biggest media corps of any road race. The race already has a
television deal with WNBC for live coverage in the New York Tri-State
area, and with NBC for same-day taped coverage nationally, so robust
television production assets would already be in place.
She also
contended that the date had great advantages for athletes, including
the option for runners who achieve quality times at 5000m and 10,000m
to do the Trials after their track seasons. In previous years, runners
had to complete a full marathon within a qualifying period and run at
least a certain time. For the previous two Trials for men, that time
was 2:22:00. Being allowed to qualify with track times may mean that
younger athletes could make their marathon debuts during the Trials,
which could lend additional excitement to the race. They would be less
likely to do that in the spring when they are focused on preparing for
the track Trials, and committing to a marathon would be too risky.
"With
track qualifiers, men may give it a try," asserted Wittenberg who also
said that completing the Trials marathon some nine months before the
Beijing Olympics would allow athletes to fully recover from the Trials
race, then train up to an even higher level in the summer. In 2000 the
men's Trials was held in early May, which some said was too close to
the Sydney Olympic Games in September.
The Road Runners proposed
that instead of using the traditional point-to-point course of the ING
New York City Marathon, they would use a criterium course in Central
Park where the marathon finishes. Athletes would essentially run the
U.S. 8-K Championships course --used from 2002 through 2004-- five
times, plus a bit of extra distance at the beginning to make the full
42.195 km. That loop, as Kenyan Patrick Ivuti pointed out when he
raced in New York City last year, "is always moving." It doesn't have
any severe hills (the hilliest section of the park at the north end is
bypassed) but there are very few sustained flat sections.
Other
cities interested in hosting the Trials include Akron, Ohio;
Minneapolis, Minn.; and Boston, Mass. Akron and Boston would take
either the men's or women's Trials, while Minneapolis is only bidding
for the women's Trials.
According to Elizabeth Phillips, USATF
Women's Long Distance Running Committee chair, a decision on which
venues will be awarded the Trials will come in "early April" of next
year.
The New York Road Runners are only seeking to host the
men's race out of practicality. "We'd love to host both, but it's cost
prohibitive," said Wittenberg. The total cost of the New York bid is
$664,500 including a prize money purse of $250,000. The other big
items are signage and banners ($90,000, including installation),
athlete lodging ($64,000), the USATF rights fee ($50,000) and athlete
hospitality ($45,000). However, the bid doesn't include the direct
cost of New York Road Runners 60 full-time employees nearly all of whom
would be putting in effort towards the Trials.
While
not able to speak directly on the merits of the bid --it needs to be
evaluated first by the USATF Men's Long Distance Running Committee--
USATF chief executive officer, Craig Masback, was very appreciative of
the interest shown by the Road Runners in hosting the race.
"There
is no question that New York City is the greatest running city in the
world," said Masback perhaps playing a bit to the audience, the New
York Track Writers weekly luncheon. But he pointed out that besides
holding the world's largest marathon, New York is also the home of the
New Balance Armory Track & Field Center, one of the most active
indoor tracks in the country (22 meets have already been held there
this season with some 54,000 athletes), the Millrose Games (the oldest
continuously contested track meet in the country), and now the Reebok
Grand Prix, an outdoor track meet at the newly constructed Ichan
Stadium. Also, the New York Road Runners hold road races nearly every
weekend.
"Now is the time to put our very best men on the
greatest stage in the world," Wittenberg summarized, pointing out the
rich sports history of the city and her organization's competence in
staging big-time events. "This is our full-time job and focus, to put
on events like this."
