David Torrence Responds To John Bingham: The blaming of the elites has to stop

I am sure there are a lot of wholesome elite runners, as David Torrance says.

I don't need any of them coming up glad handing me as I shuffle in. I am there to run not socialize with special people. Isn't that what everyone wants. Who thinks the elites are sincere when the push to popularize the sport and brand them is so blatantly put out as the reason be more present?

All these recommendations and questions and arguing about the "good ol days" is not furthering the discussion.

HOW is change generated in T&F? Who are the ones in control? Who are the ones that are able to talk to NBC and say "We need new announcers?" Or "We need to hook the athletes up to HR monitors and display it on screen?"

Who are the ones holding us back from simple little adjustments in broadcasting track meets or making them more entertaining for fans?

You're right. Pro football and basketball players may sometimes act like regular guys, but primarily they are marketed precisely as unbelievable athletes who stand far above the rest of us and we cannot attain anything close to their level. That is the opposite of expectations for runners.

Distance running , even middle distance, should have weight classes like olympic weight lifting and wrestling and boxing do. The sport is extremely flawed without that. It's not that good of a sport from a level playing field perspective...one of the worst.

Interesting idea....but terrible nonetheless.

If anything, we need LESS events, not more.

Not really pitching it as an idea, but it's a fact that puts a lid on the sport as a hero worship based revenue producer...not to dismiss the actual heroic careers many have had...borderline anorexics were fringe in HS and aren't going to make mainstream. Could there be improvements maybe....I would get to far into the comparisions with the popularity of other sports no matter how much of a circus people try to put around it.

I am a little surprise that running can't compete with horse racing..but that's the way it is.

GREAT post, rojo!

"I have signed autographs in Zagreb, Croatia, t-shirts/hats/shoes in Eagle Rock, CA. In Falmouth, the day after racing the track mile, I voluntarily chose to jog the road 12km with the “rest of the pack” to interact and chat and cheer people on. I have driven myself at 4am to Fresno and sat for hours giving out and signing hundreds of autograph cards with personal messages to HS runners at the CA XC state meet. I have co-created my OWN track club to reach out to the community with greater numbers and unity. I have put on my OWN race (BAXC) where we paired up the average casual runners with the elites and had a scored meet. I recently went to Compton to kick off a weekly run event that the Mayor created for her community that lacks a strong running culture, and jogged 2miles with the youth of the city. I signed autographs and interacted with fans so quickly after my race in Stockholm, for so long, and standing so still (due to the stairs) that my body was unable to clear the lactic acid like it normally does, and I vomited during my cool down for the first time in my entire running career." -- Torrence

David, I think that it is AMAZING that you do all of this. I really do, and posters here will know that I am always talking up ideas just like this.

However, the flip side of this is that WE ALL KNOW

this represents the exception, NOT the rule. As a fan, I have paid money for dozens of track meets where I didn't come close to the kind of meet-and-greet you promote, and upon checking out the online coverage found that the elites amazingly SKIPPED THE MEDIA AREA.

This letter in fact PROVES BINGHAM's POINT because it is so obvious that you are a rarity doing the things you do. Keep it up, and tell your colleagues to as well.

I do agree with David's ideas for making broadcasts, meets and road races more interesting.

Most elites are going to do miles of running post-race -- why not set up a track or city block for this, where other finishers can join, running and chatting with them a bit. EASY.

Track meets have an incredible amount of dead time. Why? If you go to European meets, Diamong League or second-tier, there is always something happening and the schedule is tight. EASY.

Improving TV coverage should be no problem, since it is SO BAD as it is. Split screens showing the leader and chasing runners, graphics to visualize splits and gaps, all of this makes marathon broadcasts much better for the average runner. I have many times explained races to non-running sports fans, who have then said "this stuff is WAY more intriguing than you'd guess." That's the problem. How is our crappy coverage making the sport seem LESS intriguing???

When I was fast ( relatively ) I had little interest in the slower runners. What I found was that the slower runners had little interest in the faster runners too.

As I got slower over the years and drifted back through the pack I found I had no interest in fast runners at all.

Bill Rodgers would sign autographs after races when he was an elite. No one forced him to do so. It was his choice and yes, he was a brand of sorts but it was also his style. In one race they had to hold up the awards ceremony until he had signed every requested autograph.

Does Bingham ever just *watch* a race, and wait at the finish line congratulating the elites and sub-elites? Does he attend track meets?

He's a survivor, his unfair (as Torrence proves) criticism of elites helps get him in the press and promote his brand.

He understands that even "bad news is good news" for his business. I admit, he gets some people off the couch, but he has nothing new to add to running, Torrence, Symmonds, Kastor, Samuelson and other elites do, as do many selfless dedicated coaches from high school on through the pro ranks.

My guess: many more elite runners have "big-timed" the "nobodies" than any of the "nobodies" have every insulted the elite runners. I often hear the term "Penguins" used pejoratively. I often hear or read disparaging remarks about slower participants from the faster competitors.

So, we hear a rare squawk-back from the slower crew and we are offended. I say save the righteous indignation for those that really deserve it.

Cut Mr.Bingham a break.

I love Torrence's letter.

I will add a couple of ideas:

1. Fewer races/events at track meets. TV builds up each race/event for 20 minutes before the gun goes off. Each competitor is introduced and a few are given 5 minute interview highlights.

2. After each race don't rush off to the next race event. Break down analyze and interview

3. Flotrack really does a great job in my opinion. They know the athletes, they educate the person watching etc.

Best meet I ever saw on TV was actually the 2008 CA state meet put on by Fox Sports West. Incredible coverage, great interviews. Everyone having a good time.

Oh and I love mascots. Berlino is hillarious.

mplatt wrote:

My guess: many more elite runners have "big-timed" the "nobodies" than any of the "nobodies" have every insulted the elite runners. I often hear the term "Penguins" used pejoratively. I often hear or read disparaging remarks about slower participants from the faster competitors.

This guy's experience tells something different. True "elites" do not disparage slower runners. It's the "fast amateurs" who are most disparaging to slower runners.

Of course, it is just one person's experience.

Is anyone here aware of the fact that David Torrence does NOT have a bio at USATF.org? He only ran the #2 fastest 1500 time by an American (faster than Matt Centrowitz) this year.

Part of the issue here is the horrible job the sport does of publicizing athletes. With all sarcasm intended, I think if I went to nba.com I could find something about Kobe, Lebron, and Tim Duncan.

coach d wrote:

Is anyone here aware of the fact that David Torrence does NOT have a bio at USATF.org? He only ran the #2 fastest 1500 time by an American (faster than Matt Centrowitz) this year.

Part of the issue here is the horrible job the sport does of publicizing athletes. With all sarcasm intended, I think if I went to nba.com I could find something about Kobe, Lebron, and Tim Duncan.

David Torrence is on the same level as those guys?

There is no reason at all that the athlete with the #2 American 1500 time this year does not have a bio at the primary website for the sport (i.e., the people who put on the national championships).

coach d wrote:

There is no reason at all that the athlete with the #2 American 1500 time this year does not have a bio at the primary website for the sport (i.e., the people who put on the national championships).

Those people are largely to blame for the poor marketing of the sport.

Ok Ok, but what about the LeTort Spring Run? I think we're all missing the point here, I mean cmon guys. You can have pushups in McDonalds and one of the best stocked waterways in the Northeastern United States at the same time! I wanna know how John Bingham responds to the LETORT SPRING RUN!