London Marathon is better than Chicago

Not crazy or stupid, IMO, just a visibility problem. And assembling top talent year after year hasn't helped.

It's been years since the (JP Morgan Chase) NYCM was eclipsed talent-wise by LaSalle Bank CM but even after that shift, when the (JP Morgan Chase) NYCM lost its original national TV partner (ABC, later handed off to its Disney sister, ESPN), it got another national contract without missing a year.

For years now I've been generating a passel of suggestions for how to ameliorate the LaSalle Bank CM's visibility problem -- and that's froma guy who doesn't give a rat's a-- about anything between the Lehigh campus and Mount Hood unless a NY sports team is playing a road game there. Imagine what people who actually care about the race should be able to do on that front...but no one's succeded in doing it yet.

A good beginning - -as several have mentioned -- start the race later. The crack of dawn is no time to showcase a big-time sports event.

You have a very good point there Joe. 7am in Chicago is 5am in SF/LA. How are you going to get the Average guy or gal up at that hour to watch our sport?

I think that taking the European approach and having it on a Saturday afternoon is the way to go....hell I might even run the damned race!

Jason

I will take a stab at this. I ran Chicago a few years back (1999? KK 2:05), Boston several times, and Berlin a couple months back.

Both Chicago and Berlin are very fast courses. I agree with JasoninAsia regarding the crowd support at Berlin along the course. Berlin has an edge over Chicago in the final half of the course....just a ton of crowd support to help you along. Chicago can be a bit lonely the last 10 miles or so, but has improved in terms of crowds the last few years (just my opinion). Both Chicago an Berlin have very "smooth", wide open courses. Finally, I like the fact that both races seem to offer something for all runners....elite all the way to TNT. The expo at Chicago (which people may not care about here) is far better than at Berlin. You pick it....

So where does that leave Boston? I think Boston stacks up with any marathon in the world. Training for Boston may require a bit more thought than a "flat" course, but it's tough to beat the race history. I have not been in a race with graeter crowds. Moreover, the course seems to be more strategic these days in terms of people up front. You are not seeing the leaders go out in 1:03 at Boston these days, but that doesn't mean the race isn't exciting. I think elites want to win Boston. They may run fast, but they tend to run Boston more like a championship than a "survival" time trial....and yet fast times have been run at Boston.

Chicago? Berlin? Boston? All 3 races are top notch. Berlin was wonderful this past September, but I did have a tough time with the time change (and I travel quite a bit). I never "really" felt grounded, but perhaps it was the exception.

I am looking forward to London this spring, as well as something in Japan in the future.

Mike