I don't think I like the idea of a World 5k road championships - What do you think?

Raod racing is what made AMERICA GREAT in the 70s and 80s.

Of course your generation of 25 mile weeks would hate a road 5k championship.

I like the idea of road championships.

The 10k for exemple is better to watch and run on roads imo.

Not sure about the 5k though

I think it's an interesting point to think about having 1 marquee race versus the world marathon majors where talent is spread out. I tend to think there would be enough talent to spread out between the two races. They're also different enough. In this scenario Cheptegai does the 5k.

But I don't think there needs to be any sort of rush to line up races on the same weekend. Why not have some sort of road racing circuit like USATF does? Spread out events throughout the year, add a number of different distances in, crown a winner.

The thing T&F needs to figure out is how to create a format that people would want to follow and that people would understand. The NFL is easy -- watch 1 game a weekend. T&F puts on Diamond League events, with different events and fields every week. The points aren't easy for a casual fan to follow. Maybe they can adopt a tennis type model, which they sort of already have set up with gold/silver/bronze level races. I think triathlon does a good job of having a standard distance so the same athletes show up each week. I just don't know how we simplify things like that.

I personally would rather watch a road 5k or 10k than a track 5k or 10k.

Bad idea to hold it as an addition to the World HM event.

But T&F is struggling for eyeballs and new things have to be tried. One thing I would like to see tried is for 5k and 10k events to be held on the roads as part of Diamond League meets. These could be free and open to the public to watch and could help draw attention to the DL meet inside the stadium. As events, 5k and 10k on the roads are more familiar to a general audience than 5,000m and 10,000m. I'm just pessimistic about the future of distance events on the track and want to see them retained in some way

The road 5k is perhaps the most popular event in running...weekend community 5ks and parkruns are pretty commonplace, which makes it easy for the public to relate to the competition. I believe a world road 5k championship would be really popular.

I do completely agree that it shouldn't be part of the world Half event, and it shouldn't be scheduled the same weekend as another major event.

Like the idea of more road championships. Same time as the half marathon championship makes no sense though. There's plenty of time throughout the year to hold more events.

5k World Road Race Champs aka Local Turkey Trot.

I’ll see you at the starting line in your fanny packs and college singlets!

Gobble Gobble MFers!!

Rich Pereleman of the Sports Examiner thinks it's a an amazing idea.

Rich Perelman wrote:

Yawn. For a look at what this event could be, one only need to check out the UCI World Road Championships, first held in 1921! For 2020, this event was supposed to be held in Switzerland from 20-27 September, but had to be canceled there due to the coronavirus on 12 August. It took the UCI all of 21 days to find a new venue, at Imola, Italy, where the Worlds were held last weekend (24-27 September).

The current bid guide for the UCI World Road Champs notes:

● Eight days of road racing and time trials, including public-participation events

● Television coverage by 250 million viewers in 100+ countries

● 220,000 unique spectators at Innsbruck (AUT) in 2018

● 2018 visitors accounted for €35.7 million (~$41.8 million U.S. today) in spending

● Current UCI fee for the host region is CHF 8 million (~$8.7 million U.S.)

I'm not denying it might work at bringing in revenue if the goals is to fund an event with mass participants as is the case a marathon.

ry wrote:

The road 5k is perhaps the most popular event in running...weekend community 5ks and parkruns are pretty commonplace, which makes it easy for the public to relate to the competition. I believe a world road 5k championship would be really popular.

I do completely agree that it shouldn't be part of the world Half event, and it shouldn't be scheduled the same weekend as another major event.

So fans relate to it because they only can undererstand a road 5k and not a track 5k? Do you know how many HSers run track every year worldwide? Millions.

Most Americans never play football, yet it's by far the most popular sport in the country.

I don't think your logic works.

rojo wrote:

ry wrote:

The road 5k is perhaps the most popular event in running...weekend community 5ks and parkruns are pretty commonplace, which makes it easy for the public to relate to the competition. I believe a world road 5k championship would be really popular.

I do completely agree that it shouldn't be part of the world Half event, and it shouldn't be scheduled the same weekend as another major event.

So fans relate to it because they only can undererstand a road 5k and not a track 5k? Do you know how many HSers run track every year worldwide? Millions.

Most Americans never play football, yet it's by far the most popular sport in the country.

I don't think your logic works.

No wonder there is so much vitriol on lrc when one of the owners sets the tone with posts like this one.

Robert, high schoolers are a very small part of sports TV audiences.

K2 wrote:

Robert, high schoolers are a very small part of sports TV audiences.

Weren't the rest of the audience in high school at one time though?

Seems pretty clear that IAAF wants to move distance running out off the track and onto the roads. Setting up a road WC seems like a toe in the water to see whether IAAF can transition 5k+ off the track and onto roads. If a 5k road WC is a good draw, then IAAF can try to beef up a 5k/10k road circuit.

Absent a conspiracy to end distance races on the track, I think a WC in the 5k would be interesting. You do not have the same limits on competitors that you would have on the track. So, no need for a qualifying race. Runners would all be sharp and ready to run fast. No tactical sit and kick racing. It would be exciting to see 200 13-13:30 5k runners battle it out on the road.

The half marathon and marathon have become so specialized that I do not see any of those runners wanting to do a road 5k. It would mostly be the track runners. And the lack of top runners competing against each other has little to do with the number of events. It is the managers and sponsors who want to be sure that their star only races the best competition when they absolutely have to (WC/Olympics) and the rest of the time race only against competitors they can beat. The appearance fee system that has races bidding scarce resources on a finite number of top runners is the problem.

I think we should have a road running championship, but it should be spread out over the course of a 4 month period, with one event each month.

First month is a 5k, then a 10k, then the half, and finally the marathon. Competitors gets points for how well they do in each race, with the ultimate winner getting a huge payout.

Top 3 for each race get a decent sized payout, but the large payout is reserved for the championship winner.

We need to give runners a chance to continually compete against each other, lets get some rivalries and put runners out of their comfort zone.

My suggestion would be to keep these races out of the cities. Go to a nice, flat stretch of freeway such as I-5 in Oregon or CA, or in South Dakota or Nebraska. It would be more efficient than running in awful places like east coast and large west coast cities.

rojo wrote:

ry wrote:

The road 5k is perhaps the most popular event in running...weekend community 5ks and parkruns are pretty commonplace, which makes it easy for the public to relate to the competition. I believe a world road 5k championship would be really popular.

I do completely agree that it shouldn't be part of the world Half event, and it shouldn't be scheduled the same weekend as another major event.

So fans relate to it because they only can undererstand a road 5k and not a track 5k? Do you know how many HSers run track every year worldwide? Millions.

Most Americans never play football, yet it's by far the most popular sport in the country.

I don't think your logic works.

What logic are you using? By your logic 5k viewership should be massive because millions run every year, but that obviously isn't the case. The number of people running weekend 5Ks dwarfs the number of ex high school 5k runners anyway. One might argue then, logically, that appealing to that audience is a better bet. That of course fails to acknowledge that watching running is usually uninteresting.

I think they would be better served doing a 1-mile race and a HM. As is stands, I agree with you that there is some concern that this could dilute the field.

However, right now I think the World Half and World XC struggle with the fact that despite strong African fields (most of the time) it doesn't have the same prestige/participation of the other World Champs. Participation by the best in US and Europe is sporadic and random. I think both HM/XC are intimidating events when endurance is such an advantage for the East Africans. A road 5K is much less imposing to both the athletes and fans at home. You also don't have to completely warp your training for it. I don't think World Half is ever going to be a **big** deal, but possibly the 5K race could start having competitive, global fields that would feel like a Diamond League final 5K.

How is this any different than the "track WC" where you have how many different events being contested?

Quite frankly, any race at all that can get some publicity would be good for the sport. That's pretty much the long and the short of it.

rojo wrote:

ry wrote:

The road 5k is perhaps the most popular event in running...weekend community 5ks and parkruns are pretty commonplace, which makes it easy for the public to relate to the competition. I believe a world road 5k championship would be really popular.

I do completely agree that it shouldn't be part of the world Half event, and it shouldn't be scheduled the same weekend as another major event.

So fans relate to it because they only can undererstand a road 5k and not a track 5k? Do you know how many HSers run track every year worldwide? Millions.

Most Americans never play football, yet it's by far the most popular sport in the country.

I don't think your logic works.

For TV audiences, a pack running 12.5 or 25 laps is boring to watch. I'm a huge track fan, ran the 5 and 10 in college, and I find them largely boring on television. Put these events on the road with scenery and crowds lining the course, they look more appealing on screen. Many casual fans will watch a marathon or bike racing for hours because of the landscapes, helicopter shots, drone footage, etc. but would never watch a Diamond League telecast.

I think that you could do a March to October World Distance Challenge circuit that features three 5K road races, two 10K road races, two cross country races, and culminates with a half marathon. Points are awarded for each event, double points for the "championship" HM. The overall point winners are crowned as the "best distance runner on the planet" for that year and big prize money is awarded for each event and the series.

Races are held at travel worthy locations with made-for-TV scenery (and promotional tie ins for the local tourism board/Chamber of Commerce). Think loop course in a major city, well known park, beachfront out-and-back, or through a theme park. This gives the 5/10 folks an opportunity to compete for cash and is more appealing for TV viewers (and a better look for World Athletics) that a half empty stadium.

The Olympics, Worlds, Regional, National, and Commonwealth championships are available for fast times on a track. Meet promoters at places like Monaco, Bislett, Prefontaine are always welcome to put on a track 5 or 10 if they feel it will sell tickets or boost the prestige of their event. It just won't be on any World Athletics broadcast.