Houston gets BOTH US Marathon Trials!!

so the Houston trials are approximately 7mos prior to the Olympic Marathon? NYC would have been November 2011 and Boston would have been April 2012?

I would have assumed the best for the athletes is NYC, just based on the amount of time in between the events.

I live in NYC so I wanted the trials here but I really like having the men and women at the same time and I also assume the course in Houston isnt as challenging as 4 loops of Central Park.

I don't know anything about the financial packages for the athletes .... just as a resident of NYC, I wanted them here - it was such an amazing event to watch and I'm bummed I wont see them in 2011.

So, does Dec. 14th become the dealine to run 2:19 or 65 to get in???

Will the race be the same day as Houston or will there be seperate races/ courses like NYC last trials

runBen wrote:

But, quite frankly, if we really want to put our American athletes on the world stage, this was a tremendous mistake for USATF. Houston is a nice city but it does not even come close to New York or Boston in terms of generating publicity, hype, and fan excitement. The amount of sponsorship money and media attention will be significantly lower than what it could have been.

New York, especially, could not have done a better job in 2007. What a total let down for Mary Wittenberg.

God are you a pompous douchebag. Who are you Mary's hairstylist? Or were you the genius predicting 200k spectators for the NY trials?

The course will be criterium style, the day before the regular Chevron Houston Marathon.

I think it should be possible to qualify by running one of the big city marathons. With the marathon trails in January and the Olympic Games in August the best US runners can look forward to a whole year without appearance fees and prize money.

I was surprised when I read this news, but I like the idea of the men and women running on the same course - it should generate a lot of local interest, and it will be easier for a national network to broadcast (to promote both trials at once is kind of neat). I think the one location is a bonus.

My only experience running in Houston was in 2009 when I ran in the half-marathon champs. While Houston is not on my list of places to visit, I will say this: the organizers in Houston treat elite athletes extremely well, and the people of Houston truly came out to support the athletes. Based on that experience alone, I was glad to see Houston beat out the big guns.

Do the Trials usually kill two seasons for the US athletes (in this case, Fall 2011 and Spring 2012)?

I thought that in prior years, the athletes would get to run three marathons (a major race, the Trials, and the Olympics) during the Fall/Spring/Olypics Fall leading up to the Olympics. But maybe I'm wrong about that..

what's a trials qualifer now-a-days? i heard:

2:19 marathon

or

1:05 half marathon

or

28:30 10k

that still in effect?

I'm not surprised they got the men's. I heard from a few people since last year's Houston Marathon that they were the fave. But I didn't know they would get the women's too. I think it's great. Great to have them both in the same place for sure. Not just that it is in Texas, but Brant Kotch (race director) and the rest of the people behind the event have always done a good job, based on my experiences.

vizsla! wrote:

I was surprised when I read this news,

That is because believe the shit they read on here. Were you surprised with Barringer and NB?

Except the OT will have good prize money.

Inspire wrote:

I think it should be possible to qualify by running one of the big city marathons. With the marathon trails in January and the Olympic Games in August the best US runners can look forward to a whole year without appearance fees and prize money.

I bet Brett Gotcher is pretty happy with this selection.

Still the top runners will probably be giving up a lot of guaranteed money because of the January trials date. Would you trade a chance of running in the Olympic Marathon for $200-$300K in hand plus prize money? If I was also a top U.S. 10K runner, it would be tempting to pass on the trials for fall and spring marathons then try for the 10K team.

From the press release, it sounds like they will have the race the day before the marathon (like in Boston and NY). Women and men will run the same course, but women will start early. My bet is that they just have them run the 1/2 marathon course twice. But that is just a guess.

I think Houston is a perfect spot. The city is affordable for those coming to see friends and family compete (downtown hotels go for $120-250 compared to $300 min in NY). The city has become very marathon crazy. And it is an easy venue for elites. They can pretty much sit in their hotel until just before they need to go and jog over to the start. They also have facilities at the convention center, right next to the start/finish area.

It's a little weird for the home page of this website to tout this Houston selection as some kind of victory for "Underdogs." I mean, how often does a victory that forks over $1.7 million to host the Trials qualify as an "underdog?"

Good decision to turn it into a M/F event and hold the events in acceptable weather in January. That's idea for people to make it a family event. Let's hope for huge crowds with whole families coming out for the entire week. I'd guess there'd be a people's 10k, 1/2, Full so we can all get an official time in while we are in town.

Great that people at USATF are starting to think innovatively, learning from others successes. Like 2009 PAC-10 XC was hosted by USC Friday afternoon held at a golf course kitty corner from Long Beach Airport. The races started 1 P.M. (I recall). Fans, parents, were able to fly out early A.M. from all over the PAC-10 and get there in time for the races, then fly home, sans rental car, sans hotel. Dozens of famous local Southern California high school cross teams showed up and made it a Friday workout then cheered on their former teammates. Huge crowds of kids, adults, coaches, etc. The 2009 PAC-10 XC Champs was one the most successful cross country meet I ever attended in North America.

Inspire wrote:

I think it should be possible to qualify by running one of the big city marathons. With the marathon trails in January and the Olympic Games in August the best US runners can look forward to a whole year without appearance fees and prize money.

Couldn't they run some half marathons in preparation or something before and after the trials? Wanjiru and Lel didn't make their way over here without some sort of incentive. Not everybody has to be like Ryan "I never come out of the mountains" Hall.

runBen wrote:

What a terrible decision.

I know Houston that has done a good job with their marathon/half-marathons, and they have been very accommodating hosts to their athletes, and they must have put out a very strong bid. I don't mean to belittle any of that.

But, quite frankly, if we really want to put our American athletes on the world stage, this was a tremendous mistake for USATF. Houston is a nice city but it does not even come close to New York or Boston in terms of generating publicity, hype, and fan excitement. The amount of sponsorship money and media attention will be significantly lower than what it could have been.

New York, especially, could not have done a better job in 2007. What a total let down for Mary Wittenberg.

In new york all the focus is on ridiculous stuff like the footlocker 5 borough challenge, the fdny versus the nypd, and all the local stories. the elite athletes are always the second story in the nyc marathon