Brooks let down Kara and Des. They gave them money but they needed athletes. No Hansons, No Beasts, No Mavericks. Each of those groups have both men and women who have run faster than both the men’s and women’s winners at this event.
I don't know, the women's race was at least interesting. Warner-Judd goes out at a suicidal pace, has an epileptic fit and drops out, then Izzo leads the rest of the race until Hughes comes out of nowhere in the final few laps (I think she was in 6th or 7th up to that point?) to handily win it.
Men's race was a snooze fest though, I'll give you that
If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t admission free? If so, it’s really sad they weren’t able to get more attendees. As others have said, A for effort, but the results really didn’t move the needle.
The question all fans would have to answer is, "How far would you be willing to drive to watch two men break 29 minutes in a 10km?"
If the answer is "not at all" then you have your explanation.
I love that they tried something but they need to either:
a) let me run by hosting open races all day long with a beer garden and food for afterwards or
b) bring in some fast dudes who are worth watching (31 minute women or 27 minute men).
As for crowd support, I think there's only going to be so much fan interest in this country in spending an evening to watch 2 x 10000 races and that's it. I think field quality is key to that even with free admission.
Yes. This is a great point. The quality field would be the only thing that could get me there as a spectator.
I remember that when Woody Kincaid and Centro ran a 5000m TT at Nike, I drove down because I knew Mo Ahmed was going to drag them 4800m and help them break 13:00. That was "worth it" for most fans. I would not have driven down there to watch some randos run 14:10.
Attaching the event to the Duke Twilight meet might work for next year as an east coast option with joint sponsorship by Brooks and Puma (Puma Elite is based in the RDU area). Dunno how variable local weather is this time of year, but conditions were decent after 9pm yesterday.
I appreciate their efforts, but it was mediocre at best.
Did the winners get $5,000?
Just shows 2 big names in US distance running can't help promote something that doesn't make sense.
1) Few 10,000 are run by top pros, they plan them out WAY in advance.
2) This was announced too late.
3) Who greenlit this idea? They could have posted on here before hand and I think 80% of posters would have said "not a good idea. Do it next year at best".
why would anyone with half a braincell post an idea and seek market research from the bunch of degenerate morons who post on here?! 95% of the readers here live with there mums and have SEN educational needs
Of what? Fan of Todd Danett running 29:29? That is a solid PR but I don't need to drive to watch that. Would you drive for an hour to watch Connor Poshner run 29:08?
I am a fan of the NBA, that doesn't mean I'd drive for an hour to watch a D3 college game between Borroughs College and Northern Christian University.
Of what? Fan of Todd Danett running 29:29? That is a solid PR but I don't need to drive to watch that. Would you drive for an hour to watch Connor Poshner run 29:08?
I wouldn't drive an hour to watch people run 27:xx time trials chasing qualifier times, either. Nor would anyone else. It simply isn't compelling to spectators, not even the majority of fans. Stop using spectator numbers or winning time for an event that is solely track 10Ks as a meaningful measure. This event was to provide sub-elites an opportunity for them to get a reasonably high quality performance for them. Maybe it layers-on faster runners over time. It's simply a departure from road racing 10K and from meets catering to college runners gunning for a seed time.
Of what? Fan of Todd Danett running 29:29? That is a solid PR but I don't need to drive to watch that. Would you drive for an hour to watch Connor Poshner run 29:08?
I wouldn't drive an hour to watch people run 27:xx time trials chasing qualifier times, either. Nor would anyone else. It simply isn't compelling to spectators, not even the majority of fans. Stop using spectator numbers or winning time for an event that is solely track 10Ks as a meaningful measure. This event was to provide sub-elites an opportunity for them to get a reasonably high quality performance for them. Maybe it layers-on faster runners over time. It's simply a departure from road racing 10K and from meets catering to college runners gunning for a seed time.
one of the biggest problems is Mt SAC. When Sound Running held an event there is was a disaster. Mt SAC is officially dead. Try usually a better track
why would anyone with half a braincell post an idea and seek market research from the bunch of degenerate morons who post on here?! 95% of the readers here live with there mums and have SEN educational needs
Pro tip: If you can't handle the difference between "there" and "their," you probably should avoid denigrating others' intelligence and education.
Truly, despite good intentions, the Save the 10k actually hurt the 10k.
Because of Goucher and Linden's efforts, Sound Running's Track Fest now does NOT have a 10k! This was the #2 US 10k for World Qualifying! Now gone from the program!
A recognition of this, and an apology, would be in order.
Only PDX Track Fest can now try to actually help save the US 10000m. Dang. Really. Dang. A few athletes actually did run fast at SR Trackfest. None at "Save the 10"
Just shows 2 big names in US distance running can't help promote something that doesn't make sense.
1) Few 10,000 are run by top pros, they plan them out WAY in advance.
2) This was announced too late.
3) Who greenlit this idea? They could have posted on here before hand and I think 80% of posters would have said "not a good idea. Do it next year at best".
It is not the message it’s the messengers. Kara and Des have created a nice comfortable landing area for their careers. They are both respected by the masters and above female runners. They are no longer 25 and have nothing in common with the younger crowd. This hurts them when trying to sell an event to the crowd they needed. I love Des and Kara and came to the “save the ten with Des and Kara” to watch my son compete. There were a couple of hundred spectators that came to see Des and Kara that were all in my age group. There were Zero young folks there to see the event that didn’t have someone in the event.
Putting there names on it hurt the actual event when trying to recruit a field. It helped bring in some people that were there to see them. They have now backed themselves into a hole moving forward with this event. They still will not be able to assemble a world class field and the crowd size will remain at the couple hundred people.
So what 20 something year old retired or just retired athlete turned promoter do you have in mind to attract that age group? People that age are still competing.
Just find it humorous when they acted like they were going to “Save the 10,00” then moved the goal posts and used their own podcast to call it a success.
Just find it humorous when they acted like they were going to “Save the 10,00” then moved the goal posts and used their own podcast to call it a success.
That deserves being called out.
Let's just say you're not exactly sounding like the parent of someone who participated in the race or that you love Des and Kara, as you claimed earlier. If you were, I'd expect you'd be pretty damn grateful that your sub-elite kid had a chance to run in the event and receive, among other things, a minimum $1,000 cash prize just for finishing. So drop the act. We get it, you don't Des and Kara and have an axe to grind. It's sadly common on this site.
We spent far more than $1000 for us to fly to LA. We were super excited for our son to compete in a World Class event. We left feeling misled. I think both Des and Kara have done many positive things in the sport and I am still a fan but this was not one of them. When I heard them saying that everyone that came had a wonderful experience is when I lost it.