The sport of running is slowly dying :(((

False. In Europe it was one of the top 3 or 4 spectator sports for over a century, until around...1989.

The reason that Japan has so many good marathoners is that there are companies that have nothing to with running that still sponsor them. That would never happen here and there isn’t enough prize money to provide a living for dozens of sub-2:10 runners.

Hear me out… tailgates

It's not dying, just not keeping up with the other major sports.

Ur mom is slowly dying.

Running as a sport is alive and well. I run, you run, millions of people run. But running as a spectator sport isn't dying, it's never even been alive.

A hype wo/man and mini me for all the major stars

Visible and vocal Ultras and supporters groups (not based on nationality) for favorite runners

As Pete Julian suggested, move USATF hq out of the stagnant sticks and into NYC, Austin, Durham, Chicago, So Cal, Philly

parking at Hayward

Haven't seen anyone hear with hard viewership numbers so it's hard to say if it's dying or not. Or decomposing for those shouting that it has always been dead. NASCAR seems to have no trouble bringing in people to watch things go around in a circle so it sounds like just a marketing issue.

I said this in an earlier post but the comparison with NASCAR is a great one to make specifically. If we discount the idea that there's a much greater chance of seeing someone die a fiery death at an auto race than at a track meet, you get back to a NASCAR race having a single overall winner and a track meet having none.

Anybody have the TV ratings for Saturday & comparisons to past editions? I think COVID, ticket prices, & upcoming meets are all playing a factor here. But I wouldn't be worried if tv ratings are about the same. It's so much easier to watch track on tv. Sight lines can be trash when you're in-person.

Whether you or I like the following things that NASCAR has or not, these are some of the reasons it is not the same as a foot race.

Cars going by at 200 mph vs people at <15 mph.

Drivers constantly trying to pass each other vs everybody afraid to take the lead.

The roar of the engines vs the sound of footsteps. (I don’t get this but I understand that most people seem to enjoy loud noises)

Cars are allowed to bump each other and block - within some sort of reason - vs uhm, not.

Pit stop strategy vs not.

NASCAR tries to keep a level playing field but a faster car is appreciated by the fans vs whining about cheater shoes.

I’m sure there’s more.

Junior high track meets are more exciting than Nascar, if you care about human competition. Track needs to emphasize that competitive aspect. No sport comes close to track with fierce competition in race after race.

Never going to survive Ben Johnson and the intense drug testing that followed

That is an opinion not a fact. The fact is most people have the opposite opinion.

T&F media media, athletes, and coaches are cornering themselves into a deeper and deeper niche while screaming "We're growing the sport!" just because they're scraping up a few more bucks. Naming a big track meet with a bunch of professionals "Trials of Miles" is silly. Imagine if football media kept talking about a young adult novel meant for 13 year old boys. Imagine if the Cowboys came out and were like "We had a big scrimmage at a private stadium, and scored 200 touchdowns against ourselves, a new record." That's what our country's premier running club is doing. We had a top-tier runner poop on a track, and nothing happened but a twitter thread and a few rumors. Imagine if an NBA player pooped in the locker room? You'd never hear the end of it.

I think running media is a little too incestuous. You're not allowed to spout off some hot takes that might hurt some feelings, or they hurt your chances of getting a future interview.

I blame the athletes the least though, a lot of them are just trying to make ends meet with their measly contracts. It falls on the "media" and the corporate sponsors. Get real journalists and ask real questions.

I think a big "more" in the comparison with NASCAR is that the competitors you're interested in compete for the whole time the event is going on, two hours or whatever. If you went to a 90 minute or more long pro meet in the Usain Bolt years wanting to see the likely biggest name in the sport compete you got to do that for almost ten whole seconds. Even in the very unlikely event that a 10,000 meter runner became a big attraction they'd be competing for no more than a third of the meet

What type of real questions need to be asked? Are such questions asked in the major team sports? How does hurting feelings help a sport?

I was there. Brought the whole family. Drove 500 miles from Idaho. Went Friday night and only 4K fans showed up.

It worth every penny watching Joe Klecker chase down Grant Fisher.

Saturday was more full but still plenty of open seats. The quality of the meet on the track was outstanding. Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Faith Kipyegon, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Keely Hodgkinson delivered big time.

I asked on twitter why the meet had such low attendance and this one of the answers I got;

"With the prices of flights and hotels in Eugene, most people would rather come for Worlds or USAs. 3 trips to Oregon in 3 months is a lot for a spectator that’s not local. Most flights to Eugene and even Portland cost over $1k at this point.
Plus, it was cold, rainy and windy."

Highlight of my trip was running in the rain on the Prefontaine trails next to the Willamette River. As a runner, just awesome.