Speaking of football, can you imagine if football players complained about playing in bad weather? Everyone would laugh at them! That’s what we should be doing to these soft runners who complain about 70 degrees.
Speaking of football, can you imagine if football players complained about playing in bad weather? Everyone would laugh at them! That’s what we should be doing to these soft runners who complain about 70 degrees.
That really isn't a comparison. First, we're in an era where time matters. If it was top 3 no matter what, then no one would care.
In football- they get to stop every 5 seconds or so and rest for about 40 seconds. Then, they actually stop playing completely while another group of 11 is playing (and stopping and resting). THEN- they ALL get to go into a cool locker room and rest up and rehydrate and talk things over.
I don't know if you've run a marathon (unless maybe you're a Hobby Jogger who walks and eats and stops at water stops and and drinks your water slowly) but you are running at a pace that is very close your threshold hoping to make it to the finish.
Yes, I’ve run a marathon when it was over 80 degrees at the start. Still ran a PR because I toughened up.
That really isn't a comparison. First, we're in an era where time matters. If it was top 3 no matter what, then no one would care.
In football- they get to stop every 5 seconds or so and rest for about 40 seconds. Then, they actually stop playing completely while another group of 11 is playing (and stopping and resting). THEN- they ALL get to go into a cool locker room and rest up and rehydrate and talk things over.
I don't know if you've run a marathon (unless maybe you're a Hobby Jogger who walks and eats and stops at water stops and and drinks your water slowly) but you are running at a pace that is very close your threshold hoping to make it to the finish.
Yes, I’ve run a marathon when it was over 80 degrees at the start. Still ran a PR because I toughened up.
I can see how a change in start times could be a big hassle for local organizers in terms of having to go and change all their permits and get all the vendors to agree to a different time frame. If the special events permitting is inflexible on start times, they may have to get all new permits, which would be a big hassle. For most vendors, a change in start times is not going to be a big deal as you are not going to have traffic control equipment, tents, stage, etc. swept up and sent to another location on the same day. But a good vendor contract would include a fee for time changes. I really doubt any sponsors would be dropping the event because it is going to start earlier. That would just be weird.
The $700k demand seems to be mostly a ploy to prevent the time change so the organizers don't have to do extra work. They should get some extra cash for the time involved in making the change, but $700k is just about like asking for USATF to pay twice for organizing costs.
And let's just cut to the chase. Houston needs to be the permanent home for the trials. Houston delivered a world class trials in 2012 and has hosted many outstanding US half championships. It is centrally located with a huge airport. Race day logistics are a breeze for both athletes and coaches/families. Weather is usually excellent. Good spectator turnout. Event production cost is reasonable compared to NYC or Boston.
While I agree they are probably exagerating the cost, they signed a contract! They hold the power. They can ask for whatever they want. Its up to USATF to come to the table and negotiate it down, especially considering USATF were the ones who demanded the noon start time in the first place.
LOC should be compensated for all their costs, plus a bit extra for the inconvenience. In contruction 20% extra is standard, but its up to the LOC and USATF to negotiate.
There was a thread on this last night but it suggested moving the Trials to Chattanooga which isn’t happening so I’m starting a new one.
Sarah Lorge Butler has a nice recap up on RW which I’ll link to at bottom.
The USATF athletes advisory committee has written a strongly worded letter to organizers of the Trials saying they want the start time moved to 10 am from noon and that USATF and NBC had agreed to that but that the Orlando organizers have said they’ll lose $700,000 if it’s moved. The athletes are expressing their disappointment with Orlando which said it would optimize the athlete experience. The athletes are also saying 96% of athletes they contacted want it moved but Sarah points out some prominent ones don’t.
Sarah in her column says that originally Orlando wanted an 8 am start which is interesting but now want noon and according to Jared Ward they’ll move it to 10am if USATF gives them $700k it will cost them if it’s moved.
11:48 am Update: The LOC has released it's own letter saying they want to put the athletes first and are fine with an 8 am start but it will cost them a lot financially.
Mine: 1) USATF is ultimately responsible . If a noon start time was essential for $700k in sponsorship they should have thought twice before disqualifying Chattanooga bid which was recommended by most. If 700k rests on the weather the day of race that should have been factored in.
2) I still don’t have a huge problem w noon. See what forecast is week of race and adjust it need.
3) $700k is a lot of money in our sport. I’d love to know how a 2 hour difference could mean that much in revenue. We clearly don’t know full picture. But we need more transparency.
Move the race to Jacksonville, Florida and let the 1stPlace Sports organization put this race on for USATF. “Borelando” is overrated. The Jax Marathon course is fast or have Doug Alred put together a course using the Downtown area. River Run 15K is a solid national championship and Jax could make this a great race in short order.
Just run the race in a mall parking lot somewhere. Set up some cones, start the race by 6am and you can be done and packed up by 9am when the mall opens.
Have a guy sitting on the back of a mall security car live streaming it on his phone. Pre-race dinner could be at Dave & Buster's. On race morning use a Planet Fitness to warm up in. If the race was in Seattle or San Francisco all the athletes could just bring a tent to sleep in since it seems to work well for the homeless population in those areas.
Would this really have any less production value than what USATF currently gives us?
Speaking of football, can you imagine if football players complained about playing in bad weather? Everyone would laugh at them! That’s what we should be doing to these soft runners who complain about 70 degrees.
Guarantee all these whiners show up in the "repressive" heat with hats and arm warmers .sheesh, come on people
Just run the race in a mall parking lot somewhere. Set up some cones, start the race by 6am and you can be done and packed up by 9am when the mall opens.
Have a guy sitting on the back of a mall security car live streaming it on his phone. Pre-race dinner could be at Dave & Buster's. On race morning use a Planet Fitness to warm up in. If the race was in Seattle or San Francisco all the athletes could just bring a tent to sleep in since it seems to work well for the homeless population in those areas.
Would this really have any less production value than what USATF currently gives us?
If nobody wants to host it next time will they do something like working with a mass participation race to set the elite field requirements to be OTQ requirements and take the top 3 Americans from that? It's less than ideal for sure, but maybe possible if that's all they can get.
Better yet, scrap the Marathon Trials completely and go off the descending order lists with the caveat that qualifying times have to be run at at World Marathon Majors race or on a World Athletics listed race.
I sure as hell wouldn't advise any city/town's sports commission to bid on the Trials. You might as well put a bag of cash in the middle of the street and burn it on live TV and you'd get more eyeballs watching than a marathon race.
That really isn't a comparison. First, we're in an era where time matters. If it was top 3 no matter what, then no one would care.
In football- they get to stop every 5 seconds or so and rest for about 40 seconds. Then, they actually stop playing completely while another group of 11 is playing (and stopping and resting). THEN- they ALL get to go into a cool locker room and rest up and rehydrate and talk things over.
I don't know if you've run a marathon (unless maybe you're a Hobby Jogger who walks and eats and stops at water stops and and drinks your water slowly) but you are running at a pace that is very close your threshold hoping to make it to the finish.
Yes, I’ve run a marathon when it was over 80 degrees at the start. Still ran a PR because I toughened up.
Mr. Tough Guy-
Dare we ask how "Slow" you ran?...or WALKED!
A 3-4 hour death march is not "Running" and shouldn't be considered a "PR" for anything.
They should just do it on the Circuit of the Americas F1 track in Austin. It's like a 3.3 mile loop, so they'd have to do it 8 times. The runners aren't there to sightsee anyway, and the logistics would be a piece of cake and inexpensive.
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