NYC Marathon Bid for Olympic Trials

Some people in here will complain about anything, if they're complaining about this bid.

Dave, shouldn't you be at practice right about now 3-3:30?

Oh that's right you don't even run competitively.

8 million people would agree that you should leave your halfassed gripes at home since you contribute nothing to the sport.

If NYC wins the bid it would be HUGE for the sport. Built-in media base, including TV, which you all noticed was a bit short the last Olympic cycle. And the "local boy chases Olympic Dream" will get a lot more ink when the boy's city newspaper's sportwriter gets to go to NYC to cover it. Many will stick around for the "open" race 2 days later.

The only drawback I see is that it was impossible to get the women's race there too.

The course is not dead flat or downhill. BFD. It's SUPPOSED to a be hard event. And there are enough top US performers now (and the A standard is sufficiently relaxed) that getting the A standard for 3 runners is far less of a risk.

You want exposure and concomitant money, you have to PUSH, not pull, and to do that you have to take your product to the crowds instead of waiting for them to discover it.

The NYRR has shown a zealot's commitment to the top end of the sport and to getting the US runners there. (As does The Pink Man, Carey Pinkowski.) If you think otherwise, you have not examined much, if any, of the evidence that's been piling up for the past 5 years.

why not just have the race on the same day with everyone else running nyc....who cares if there are some foreigners in the race....that would be a true test of who will do well in an olympic setting.

I agree with pretty much everything here. The only "problem" I see is that if NYC gets this bid...it's somewhat likely that the women's bid will seem kind of lame in comparison, unless Boston made some sort of similar bid? Akron and Minneapolis might find it hard to measure up.

........ wrote:

why not just have the race on the same day with everyone else running nyc....who cares if there are some foreigners in the race....that would be a true test of who will do well in an olympic setting.

there are literally hundreds of reasons why this cant happen. to give you an example, ing sponsors the nyc marathon, bank of america sponsors the olympic trials. they compete, neither one will negotiate, idea dead.

as far as november vs spring, does anybody care what the athletes think? NYRRC chose to put in with the NYCM because the overwhelming number of elite Americans they talked to at their events wanted it in the fall so that the can run the track as well.

Can't or won't. How much does the marathon trials generate anyway...near nothing.

If USATF can't get what few sponsors they have to cooperate for the better of the sport then they should just quit. Shut it down and throw in the towel. USATF is the weekest organization I've ever seen. They are puppets to the USOC and IAAF.

It is sad that USATF is our last bastion of hope.

tiredofhearingit wrote:

Can't or won't. How much does the marathon trials generate anyway...near nothing.

If USATF can't get what few sponsors they have to cooperate for the better of the sport then they should just quit. Shut it down and throw in the towel. USATF is the weekest organization I've ever seen. They are puppets to the USOC and IAAF.

It is sad that USATF is our last bastion of hope.

I can understand why the sponsors want the exclusivity they signed on for, but there is no question that usatf is a joke. the money from the sponsors is needed to host the event, as the trials generate no money themselves. but usatf signs deals that keep them above water instead of moving forward. they are are a horribly weak organization with no real direction or plan to make the sport professional, which it most certainly is not.

Also, worth adding that I've run that course kinda sorta before...and its not murderous.

did 4 loops of the 8k course and then a full 6-mile loop of the park. Did that on a Saturday at an honest pace, and still had enough in the tank for a good 5k track race 6 days later.

Ok, fine, have them in NYC....but in the "Greatest City in the World", why the frig do you lock the race into a tiny corner of Central Park? You can stand on Central Park West or Fifth Avenue and never even know a race is happening 200 meters from where you are standing--which is exactly what will happen if they go along with this plan.

People need to know the rules before they start complaining about the "game."

The USOC owns the rights to the Olympiuc Trials. All sponsors have to be ok'd by them. If BOA sponsors the USOC then they will not accept ING as a sponsor. It has nothing to do with USATF. This is one thing you can't blame them for.

skylon wrote:

Ok, fine, have them in NYC....but in the "Greatest City in the World", why the frig do you lock the race into a tiny corner of Central Park? You can stand on Central Park West or Fifth Avenue and never even know a race is happening 200 meters from where you are standing--which is exactly what will happen if they go along with this plan.

I've run one of the half-marathons they have in the park and some of those hills really suck. There not huge but I wouldn't want to have to do them 4 times. The 8k course is probably the fastest portion of the park and it makes it more spectator friendly.

The marathon olympic trials should be run under the best possible conditions for the athletes.

Just imagine the track & field trials being run on a cinder track with poor drainage and potentionally horrible weather. We should do everything possible to enable our athletes to get the A standards and get to the Olympics.

Another option would be to find a course that matches the one that will be used at the Olympics. Run the trials exactly one year before Games or in a part of the US that will simulate the same temperature/humidy conditions.

If USATF is responsible for selecting ALL USA teams then this bid is a guaranteed failure. You can not put our best Team in the PAN AM Games in early August and then our best Team in the WC the first week in September and then have the trials the first weekend in November. By selecting New York USATF is blatantly ignoring their responsibility of putting the best team in Pan Am and the WC. That would be a travesty.

In my story yesterday about the 2008 Olympic Trials - Men's Marathon bid made by the New York Road Runners, I incorrectly reported that the decision on which venues would be chosen would be made by early April of next year. I meant to write early April, 2006.

I apologize for the error, which was pointed out to me by both Glenn Latimer and Scott Hubbard.

David Monti

Editor & Publisher

Race Results Weekly

I've run one of the half-marathons they have in the park and some of those hills really suck. There not huge but I wouldn't want to have to do them 4 times. The 8k course is probably the fastest portion of the park and it makes it more spectator friendly.

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Spectator friendly my ass. A race in Central Park will NOT attract the average New Yorker to watch regardless of it being an Olympic Trials. Have the race run down 5th Ave. into midtown, etc., and people will watch.

I have seen many opinions on both sides regarding a loop course or not. Friday or not. No one has been able to have a counter argument for the fact that New York is ignoring the WC. Now don't get me wrong I don't blame New York for trying to destroy the WC team. Afterall, they are always competing for the same athletes as the WC. However, USATF is ignorant if they allow this to happen. I say that USATF tells New York that this is a great bid and that we want to accept it but we can't because it interferes with our WC team. However if NY is willing to modify their bid and set it up as a Spring event, it would be considered in a much more favorable light.

However if NY is willing to modify their bid and set it up as a Spring event, it would be considered in a much more favorable light.

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Again....why, oh, why in the Park? In 1989 or 1990, they ran the Ekiden on city streets with the finish in Central Park. It was broadcast LIVE on NBC. It's BEEN DONE. Whether it's fall '07 or Spring '08.....holding the race in the Park is akin to a tree falling in the forest. It will not be heard.

Dave Monti, please address this point.

You may be right, but the question is moot unless it is a spring bid.