2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials bidders - Atlanta, Austin, Chattanooga, Orlando - Who you got?

Not an offensive statement, stop being such a snowflake wrote:

rojo wrote:

We just got the following press release from USATF.

Update: Re-reading the release, we think it's possible another city could be added to the mix but right now it looks like it will be held in one of those 4 cities.

Why are all the options located in $hithole states?

I was wondering the exact same thing!

Apparently he was one of the favorites and he did drop out due to cramps caused by the hot temps.

Clearly few remember the problems Atlanta had at the trail and the games. Legacy? They have erased the legacy, not much carryover. Most us were so glad to get out of Atlanta post trials and games. They have not hosted a major track meet or national championship in how long? Atlanta Marathon experience is a joke.

Hopefully we have an opportunity to improve on the joke of the LA marathon Oly trials.

Max should have lost his job over this mess.

- Course management a joke as the course was as well

- Water, what water on the course, confusion with athletes own fluids

- Prize Money Depth

- Travel, room and board for all A qualifiers

- TV and promotional support beyond the local market

-Flosports is in Austin

-The Austin Marathon has a new owner that is bringing a better elite field to their race, expanded (excellent) race coverage with Flo

-The race in mid Feb. is a good test with some hills, heat, and a great city. Downtown Austin has a great hotel scene and has prided itself in elite athletes in the past.

Austin will be the choice.

Since the object is to pick the runners who will do best in August in Tokyo, you need to first consider the weather. Tokyo is 79 deg F in August, with about 75% humidity.

Assuming the trials will be in February, you then need to consider the weather in the host cities in February. Chat' (55 deg F), Atlanta (57 deg F), Austin (65 deg F), and Orlando (73 deg F).

Thus, Orlando is the only city that appears warm enough to simulate the conditions in August in Tokyo. Also, Orlando has 71% RH in February, which is similar to Tokyo's 75% RH in August. In addition Orlando seems big enough with enough hotels and experience in hosting conventions, amusement parks, etc. that they should be able to pull this off.

Spectators would also prefer Orlando to the other cities, because there's amusement parks and a break from winter weather. The athletes may also prefer a city with "things to do" after the competition.

Thus, I think Orlando has the best chance.

I would agree with you if this was a 10K. But its not. A marathon in the heat can ruin and shorten careers. Even if you qualify and do well in a hot olympic trials marathon it has the potential to cause fatigue for several months resulting in a poor olympic showing.

+1

People qualify for the Trials from all over. The race is usually in January which mean people are training through the fall/winter in cooler weather. Having a warm weather marathon trials is not good IMO. Let the team qualify and then do the training to prep for conditions in Tokyo. I don't want to see a top contender drop out due to the weather. LA probably ended up being a touch worse than Rio. OR you could argue the way LA was setup definitely did not do athletes any favors.

The Trials is also a chance for folks who qualified in on the higher side to be in the best fields of their lives and potentially run a pb. I want to see a 2:18 guy drop a 2:14, or a 2:44 woman go 2:39.

Which location would produce the most spectators? I have a feeling the race would be most important to Chattanooga and they would thus be most hospitable and the most exciting thing in town that weekend. Atlanta seems so big that the race might be lost, Austin has other institutions and Orlando...well there is no there, there.

Of course Atlanta has an excellent club and would organize well.

Tom

well mostly I like to say Chattanooga over and over.

Do not repeat LA trials problems wrote:

Hopefully we have an opportunity to improve on the joke of the LA marathon Oly trials.

Max should have lost his job over this mess.

- Course management a joke as the course was as well

- Water, what water on the course, confusion with athletes own fluids

- Prize Money Depth

- Travel, room and board for all A qualifiers

- TV and promotional support beyond the local market

Everyone knows he would have lost his job if he couldn't play the race card.

atxtime wrote:

-Flosports is in Austin

-The Austin Marathon has a new owner that is bringing a better elite field to their race, expanded (excellent) race coverage with Flo

-The race in mid Feb. is a good test with some hills, heat, and a great city. Downtown Austin has a great hotel scene and has prided itself in elite athletes in the past.

Austin will be the choice.

Is this the great elite field you speak of?

1. Joe Thorne, 33, Grover Beach, CA 2:32:05.1 $2000

2. Daniel Bishop, 26, Salt Lake City, UT 2:33:02.7 1500

3. Jared Carson, 30, Portland, OR 2:35:11.3 800

4. Rio Reina, 29, Berkeley, CA 2:37:16.3

1. Allison Macsas, 32, Austin, TX 2:48:16.7 $2000

2. Caroline Veltri 2:58:38.2 1500

rnrrnr wrote:

Do not repeat LA trials problems wrote:

Hopefully we have an opportunity to improve on the joke of the LA marathon Oly trials.

Max should have lost his job over this mess.

- Course management a joke as the course was as well

- Water, what water on the course, confusion with athletes own fluids

- Prize Money Depth

- Travel, room and board for all A qualifiers

- TV and promotional support beyond the local market

Everyone knows he would have lost his job if he couldn't play the race card.

If there wasn’t unusually high temps, LA was great for spectating, plenty to do, affordable lodging, and cheap flights.

Think about this for a min before firing off some bull***t...

Las Vegas would be great. The strip is closed down, flights are cheap, it’s run in the evening, weather is great, and you could do 2 13 mile loops on the strip, giving spectators plenty of opportunities to watch.

We would also see some relatively fast times I think. There’s also plenty to do, so I think even more people would travel to the event.

It would never happen though, although it would be more fun than traveling to Orlando. Outside of Disney (which I could careless about) what the f*** is there to do?

I am excited to see Chattanooga throw their hat in the ring. The World Half Ironman champs that were held in the city this fall were a smashing success by all reports. The full Ironman race has grown every year, and sells out very quickly.

My two reservations over the "Scenic City" hosting it are lack of transportation (small airport, although BNA, ATL ~ 2 hours away with regular shuttle service) - this said it hasn't hampered the other events in the city.

The other is that oddly, 2 different marathons over the past 3 years in Chattanooga have been mis-measured. I would sure hope that USATF is more hands on with the race organization this time around compared to how things were handled in LA '16.

Aren't we missing the REAL question, here... which city is Rupp approved !?!?!

If you haven’t been to Chattanooga or familiar with the events we have hosted the past 10 years, you should do some studying. The committee bringing events to this city is working very hard and it is paying off. Three Ironman events last year along with USA cycling in the past, and one of the biggest crew events in the world with The Head of the Hooch. Chattanooga was also in the running last year when the Crossfit Games were moved from California.

MikeD,

During college I enjoyed XC meets up at the mental institution. For a short time after college I lived just north of Chattanooga and really like the community. However, as ChooChoo pointed out, the October 7 Bridges/ 4 Bridges has had it's share of problems measuring an accurate course distance.

It is my understanding that the LOC funds the cash awards? Can Chatty do that?

Why doesn't Houston get the trials in 2020 ?

It seems that would be the top location as Houston was the #1 choice for 2016 before being overruled.

Boston would be the perfect location. The Olympic Trials could start at 9:00 a.m. Monday on the Boston course.

If it must be a multi lap course (I can't understand why it has to be) then have the Olympic Trials race on Sunday before the Boston Marathon with the race course going by the expo.

Why not just have it in the Phoenix metro area in late January or early February? Guaranteed to have basically perfect weather in the morning. The valley is about as flat as it gets, major airport, easy to get to, plenty of things to do.