When is USATF going to announce when and where the Oly Trials marathon is going to be held??????????????????????????????

I agree with Mr. Crock. If you really want to effect the process write to USOC and the IOC and IAAF. Do not waste your time writing to USATF. Let them know how poorly the process has been hadled and that the athletes are opposed.

Hanson fanatic wrote:

This thread talks about many of the same things.

http://hansons.ararad.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=167

I just read the entire thread and it definitly talks about the lack of ethics involved in the process.

What I don't get is that the trials are not going to be over the New York course and not on the same day. All major reasons to put the trials in New York in my opinion. That said, why doesn't NYRR just host the trials in the spring of 08. If they are so noble paying out so much for the trials then there should be no problem.

What is the justification here to host the trials around the same time of a major race? It does nothing for the sport. The trials will be clouded by the larger more popular races. already people are saying, "2 days before the REAL race on another course." So why even have it in Boston or New York? Our trials are second fiddle to the larger, slower speciticle that the general masses enjoy more. This is a huge marketing mistake for our sport and will backfire. You heard it here first.

So if you can't mix sponsors money and it needs to be a seperate race on a seperate day, can someone please give me the reasons to host this race 2 days before the larger, more popular race?

The three levels: the USOC, USATF and the LOC are trying for the home run Marathon Trials scenario, that’s why it’s taking so long. All the rules where clearly outlined in the Agreement between the USOC and USATF. The contract between the LOC and USATF has all the rules that the USOC expects to be followed. If everyone just signed the agreement and honored the penciled in deadline than the Marathon Trials would have been in Dodge City, Kansas (no offense, it was the first city that my eyes spotted when I looked at my map). All parties involved want the best stage for the athletes and the sport. Everyone is talking about NYC and Boston; the Media attention alone will benefit the athletes, organizations and the sport to raise money in the future.

I still don’t get why New York/ NYRR is getting banished, they are willing to lost money on one event to help the sport, develop the current American athletes and inspire the next generation. Stop beating up USATF, they are the middle man in the situation and they MUST be the middle man. The USOC can hire anyone to run any Trials, but why would they not work with the National Governing Body? They know the sport and understand the mutual goals best – pick the best team that will win the most medals, represent the US and inspire Americans. The USOC has to go through this entire process for every sport that is hosting a Trials, the process is not black & white. If the USOC wasn’t asked to be more flexible, we would be talking about small markets and little media, who does that benefit?

My advice on USATF: become an official member, vote and support. One of the greatest things about USATF is that with all the sub-committees, the sport should have a wide range of representation. BUT it also presents a problem when making decisions. Sometimes too many voices cause more headaches; I’m not saying that the USOC is in a better situation but they trimmed their Board from over 100 members to 11. Let’s not just voice our opinions on this message board; attend USATF meetings, become an official, pay for an event ticket…if we all gave back a little more, sponsorship revenue becomes a little less important and then the runners/ memberships will have more control vs. the corporations.

MR. DOWNHILL – The reason is race expenses. Even though the Trials and the "other race" would be 1-2 days apart you can save a huge amount of money on expenses. Remember NYC (not 100% sure about Boston) will be using the same finish line. That build out alone costs some serious $$. Huge marketing mistake? Are you kidding me? Based on 13 years of Sports Marketing, with heavy experience in the NYC market, international events, and in the sport of running; I will bet you anything that you will be wrong. If the Trials are held in either NYC or Boston on the weekend of their big races, it will provide more attention then any other Trials in US running history. If I’m wrong than where does our sport go?

Good points made by Brooklyn Dude

below is a copy of a post from the other item on this topic.

i agree with frankie RE: Planning for the 2008 OT Marathon 5/24/2006 10:43AM - in reply to frankie say... Reply | Return to Index | Report Post

Ain't that the truth!!!

All of this public information has been repeated several times.

1) Qualifying period has been public knowledge for a long time. Twin Cities Marathon 2005 as a one day window because it was the USA National Championships, and then January 1, 2006 until thirty days before the Olympic Trials race.

2) Therefore nothing is stopping anyone from qualifying for the OT marathon.

3)If you have the ability, then you will pursue your goals. The rest, who have no chance will be whining on this web site. The poster above is probably correct in that the whiners are 2:37 guys with no shot at qualifying.

4) Look at the people who have already qualified for the Olympic Trials - more already than the number of finishers in 2004 on the men's side.

5) It has been explained on this web site numerous times that the decision as to where the Trials will go DID INVOLVE THE TOP ATHLETES AND COACHES. It is untrue to say that noone cares about the athletes.

6) The decision of where the Trials will go was made in February 2006. It was agreed that nothing would be announced until the contracts were signed. That process is with lawyers now. Simply put, when it is signed, it will be announced.

7) Per number 6, and per the quote from the poster above, go plan your attempt on the trials qualifying time if you have the ability. Noone's plans are being disrupted by not knowing where or when right now.

And so I am currently injured and have run 2:19 I would like to think if I devote enough time and energy I can get that time down even further. It will take me about 1 year to rehab and prepare for a marathon. I'm thinking chicago in the fall of 2007 would be ideal as far as timing and enough time to not rush things. What to do???????

And by the way....why does it take a year for all those lawyers in the national office to come up with a contract?

It's not a year to do and contract - it is so far about six weeks - which isn't a long time to lawyers on both sides. These are complicated issues with both sides doing the usual give and take and changing clauses.

Your hypothetical situation is relevant to you, but is only one scenario. When the trials are announced, you'll decide if you have time to qualify or not.

There are a lot a scenarios out there for different individuals.

Anyone making it to the trials will have earned it - the rest is woulda, coulda, shoulda.

Don't call me Frances wrote:

Hanson fanatic wrote:

This thread talks about many of the same things.

http://hansons.ararad.org/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=167

I just read the entire thread and it definitly talks about the lack of ethics involved in the process.

I've said it before, I'll repeat- no, what's contained in the Hanson's thread is NOT the same thing as trying to work out the details between the interested Trials parties. Ethics aren't at the heart of the issue...sponsorship differences are. This has been noted in different places in this thread. The holdup is as frustrating for USATF officials as it is for everybody else.

In the mean time, if it were me trying to qualify, I'd shoot for this fall or next spring...not knowing anything else. That's quite a bit of time.

They should skip Chicago, Boston, New York and pick a course, date, a likely weather conditions, that the athletes see as similar to the course in Beijing. The idea is to have the best athletes for the U.S. team, and not assist corruption, patronage, graft, etc. in the big city marathons. People in the U.S. have lost sight of the reason for the trials. The corruption in the U.S. has become like eastern europe.

why not just send the trials qualifiers to the beijing marathon that is in october 2007 10 months before the olympics, the athletes would get to do the course, get used to the food and culture of the foreign country, the course is fast with i think 207 for men and 219 for women, i believe kenya has used boston as its olympic trials and mexico once used the los angeles marathon for their trials. so its been done before, is the beijing marathon the same course that will be used in the olympics? if it is china would probably use the race as its qualifier.

also if it is hold 10 months before the olympics, the runners who did not qualify would have time to train to make the team in the 10k, where the standard is 2749 for men and 3140 for women for the 2007 worlds and should be about the same for the 2008 olympics. and running with foreigners can help the times, unofficial but de-facto pacing. and all runners like to get fast times.

doug225550 wrote:

why not just send the trials qualifiers to the beijing marathon that is in october 2007 10 months before the olympics, the athletes would get to do the course, get used to the food and culture of the foreign country, the course is fast with i think 207 for men and 219 for women, i believe kenya has used boston as its olympic trials and mexico once used the los angeles marathon for their trials. so its been done before, is the beijing marathon the same course that will be used in the olympics? if it is china would probably use the race as its qualifier.

Also, those who represent the US in the WChamps in Osaka can stay there where they will have adapted to the time change, try to recover and train for a week or two before running in that god-forsaken polluted city.

i agree with frankie wrote:

It's not a year to do and contract - it is so far about six weeks - which isn't a long time to lawyers on both sides. These are complicated issues with both sides doing the usual give and take and changing clauses..

It took a year to do the last OT contract, the one before that NEVER got done and our leaders told us this one would be announced in October. Yes, we are well over six weeks from the target date and precedent tells us the lawyers in the NO have better things to do.

doug225550 wrote:

why not just send the trials qualifiers to the beijing marathon that is in october 2007 10 months before the olympics.

who is paying for that?

Another week has gone by and USATF still sucks. This is way past the point of obsurdity. Dathan has signed with New York, which means that decisions for the fall are already being made. This makes a difference in which marathon athletes will be choosing.

Just wait. They will blame the time delay on the USOC. When in fact the delay is because of New York nd their unwillingness to compromise.

New York is too busy signing Lance to care about the trials.

Your post makes a lot of sense. I don't see how having the trials on a Friday 2 days before the NYC marathon helps the sport. I think a weekend race in the NY in the spring would be a better idea. I can't believe they can't work out the details and announce where the trials are going to be.

I just finished reading the rest of the thread. Everyone is going off on NY and USATF. I think the criticism are a bit ridiculous. Can anyone point to one concrete example of something that is not above board occuring? Sure I'm upset with the delay but I don't see how you blame it all on NY or USTAF without knowing the details. I don't see how it takes 2 months to work out details and thnk people should get concerned if they really are spending two months on this on legal bills as this could be quite expensive but I assume they are just taking their time.

I think the trials would get media attention no matter what time of the year they are held in NY.

But there is a meet this weekend in NYC with Justin Gatlin competing and i bet most people don't even have a clue. NYC is not going to save the sport on its own. Everything is global now and television coverage is what matters most.