Not that we have any say in the decisino, but it's worth digging into, deeply.
In letsrun's first installment, he speaks about the challenges moving forward. Ambiguous about "challenges", he makes it clear in his discussion that waning popularity is his concern.
He explains that there are not as many competitions as when he was competing. I would like to see specific data on this. First, because so few events are broadcast doesn't mean the events don't happen. It feels like there are so many events, especially now at the intersection of cross country, (NACACs, WCs) Road racing (warm weather marathons, opening of USARC season) and track (IAAF indoor, NCAA indoor). Conversely, more competitions isn't necessarily a good thing on its own; having events with empty stands is rarely a positive experience for the athlete, or fan.
Melding disciplines. This is another challenge he describes, that the bruden to showcase T&F is so much more difficult because of the different disciplines. It seems to work best when an event specializes. Marathons and road races do their thing, but the recent Relay Champs were awesome. Those Pole-Vault-in-the-mall type, Shot-Put-on-the-Green events are also great events (as far as I can tell). Will this mean a disintegration of the traditional track meet outside of championships? Does it matter? If a fan can go early afternoon to the City Square to see a field event, then mill over to the track to see an hour of condensed racing, has any damage been done?
Looking forward to hearing what he has to say, (although I'm not sure I will like most of what that is...)