Not sure what to think about this. It sounds like it would diminish the importance of the Olympic marathon too for one gender - with this race being held every other year for each gender. They could mitigate that by always choosing Tokyo or something I suppose.
I bet there will be a masses race if they don't just hold it in conjunction with an extant major. So yes, though I doubt it will cost $4000. You can certainly pay that in flights and hotels though.
Every year? So one gender will have it be in the Olympic year? They’ll have even weaker fields than now
That was what I was thinking too. And the rest of the majors will have weak fields in the season they hold the championship for that gender.
This quest to ascertain a marathon champion seems flawed. The problem is time is rewarded too much over place. Worlds is hot so times will be slow. Olympics is hot. If a 5th place at the Olympics was rewarded more than 3rd at Berlin, we wouldn't see marathoners skip.
The effect is for one gender, the Olympics is going to become B tier like Olympic cycling or soccer.
It seems like a weak idea , especially having it in an Olympic year. They’re going to have difficulty drawing runners away from the major marathons unless they offer more money .
A better idea is designate one of the WMM's every year as a WMM championship and have it rotate. Top 25 WMM point earners from the previous year get in. It would make the 'other' WMM in that time of year a bit weaker, for example Berlin and New York would be weaker if Chicago was the 'championship', but that would only negatively effect those races once out of every 4 or 5 years if it rotates across all the WMMs now with Sydney and South Africa being closer to the summer now.
Every year? So one gender will have it be in the Olympic year? They’ll have even weaker fields than now
That was what I was thinking too. And the rest of the majors will have weak fields in the season they hold the championship for that gender.
This quest to ascertain a marathon champion seems flawed. The problem is time is rewarded too much over place. Worlds is hot so times will be slow. Olympics is hot. If a 5th place at the Olympics was rewarded more than 3rd at Berlin, we wouldn't see marathoners skip.
The effect is for one gender, the Olympics is going to become B tier like Olympic cycling or soccer.
They care more about the Olympic marathon than the World one. The World one will become "C" tier.
That was what I was thinking too. And the rest of the majors will have weak fields in the season they hold the championship for that gender.
This quest to ascertain a marathon champion seems flawed. The problem is time is rewarded too much over place. Worlds is hot so times will be slow. Olympics is hot. If a 5th place at the Olympics was rewarded more than 3rd at Berlin, we wouldn't see marathoners skip.
The effect is for one gender, the Olympics is going to become B tier like Olympic cycling or soccer.
They care more about the Olympic marathon than the World one. The World one will become "C" tier.
Some athletes already skip the Olympics for a pay day at a World Marathon Major. It will depend if its just a major hosting this championship or if the championship is its own dedicated event.
They care more about the Olympic marathon than the World one. The World one will become "C" tier.
Some athletes already skip the Olympics for a pay day at a World Marathon Major. It will depend if its just a major hosting this championship or if the championship is its own dedicated event.
They should offer the best prize money they can. I don't care if a B list event and is only won in say 2:06. What i would like to see is a team competition added, 5 runners per country with top three finishers to count. This would serve to fill out the field as it gets a bit ridiculous when a starting field of maybe 100 runners ends up with 60 or so finishers with the last runner crossing the line in about 2:30
Is this like a dance marathon but for losers who just stood in the corner during school dances? We probably have some serious contenders for the world championship on this message board!
A better idea is designate one of the WMM's every year as a WMM championship and have it rotate. Top 25 WMM point earners from the previous year get in. It would make the 'other' WMM in that time of year a bit weaker, for example Berlin and New York would be weaker if Chicago was the 'championship', but that would only negatively effect those races once out of every 4 or 5 years if it rotates across all the WMMs now with Sydney and South Africa being closer to the summer now.
This is the way to go. Honestly, I'm not opposed to Athens being added to the WMMs if they do it this way. Yes, it's getting bloated if we start adding every marathon to the circuit, but something just feels right about Pheidippides's original route being part of the circuit.
I don’t like it. As a standalone it will never compare to any of the WMM’s. Even if WC marathon was a bit less competitive than say Boston or London, it least had the draw of being a part of the world championships which gave it a strange sort of ancillary value that will be lost. No one will care about this race without the “it’s technically part of the iaaf world championship meet” aspect I think
Going sub-4 would put me well beyond the average finish time by many minutes. This is something worth doing on the world stage
I'll bite. To buy your way into the championship field at a stand alone race would cost much more than $4k. First you'd have to bribe an official to find you the right citizenship (with enough money you'll discover you have a long lost relative from Burkina Faso or somewhere that doesn't qualify any athletes - but wait, it will cost more to fast track your citizenship, and then arrange for your travel). I think you might be able to do this for 100-500 million USD - this is based on assuming you don't have any connections to the right palms to grease yet. It would be significantly cheaper if you wanted to run a 2:30 marathon - something that wouldn't look out of this world embarrassing to a country but obviously has no place in a championship field.
I don’t like it. As a standalone it will never compare to any of the WMM’s. Even if WC marathon was a bit less competitive than say Boston or London, it least had the draw of being a part of the world championships which gave it a strange sort of ancillary value that will be lost. No one will care about this race without the “it’s technically part of the iaaf world championship meet” aspect I think
I think it would be great if it was just a fast masses race for the locals. Of course, we all know that won't happen. People will travel to these races because of the championship affiliation. Maybe it will relieve a bit of the pressure on the wmm races that fill up every year.
I don’t think this would water down fields very much. Unlike other marathons, only 3 people are going to be entered per country. Ethiopia and Kenya will be almost unphased, as will Japan id bet. The US’s best athletes normally only race Boston/Chicago/NY anyway, and even then don’t make up most of the top 10.
I don’t like that they do it every other year for each gender. I guess that’s to help prevent watering down the fields, but what’s the point of having it during Olympic years? Unless there will be a track WC during Olympic years, it doesn’t make sense to me. I guess maybe it’s good for marketing?
Some athletes already skip the Olympics for a pay day at a World Marathon Major.
Please expand this thought. Name two athletes (you used a plural term), year they skipped, country they are from, method of team selection by that country, that the athlete(s) were selected, WMM (or other high profile marathon) they contested instead (must be 12 weeks prior to or after the Games), finish position at that race, and prize money won. Thanks in advance for your reply.
