With all of the excitement that US XC Nats had this season, are there any other communities that could drum up the same amount of support (i.e. crowd sizes, prize money, etc.)? I figure Eugene could get equal community support and excitement, but where else has this same potential?
Maybe Boston
the crowd is the toughest. i'd question whether eugene - maybe a bit more of a "track" than xc town - or anywhere else could match boulder.
Does anyone think 10,000 will be exceeded at the Central Park Trials? I think it's a gimme with the Marathon audience in town. Whether or not there's packed crowds the entire 5mile loop is another story.
austin, tx
10,000 is an exagerrated figure from the organizers and has been propagated as gospel by the T&F/XC good-old-boys-and-girls network, you know who they are ;-) Yet I can say there was more people there than at VCP last year, or at any XC nats that I\'ve been too. There was more people that at Fukuoka WXC, but not as much as WXC in Brussels, St. Etienne, or Lausanne. The interest I\'ve from the media and websites are lower than last year. Why ? I can\'t really say for sure, but the Halls, Webb, Tollefson, etc. not showing might be the reason. Perhaps the fact that so many hinted beforehand the reluctunce to venture to Mombasa. The biggest reason I suspect is the conflict with the Tyson meet on the same weekend, Tyson has recently always held the meet the 2nd week of February, and USATF XC was always recently the third week of February, I think next year they need to do that again, i.e. move the 2008 USATF XC *forward* one week to the *third* week of February as before.
check your calendar. nats hasn't "always recently" been the third week of february. it moves around quite a bit.
Hold it in Seattle, Portland, or Eugene with the same amount of hype and the same competitors and you will get your 10,000 and probably a whole lot more.
The crowd numbers, even if they are exagerated this year, dont necessarily have to match, but where can a meet like this get as much pub and have a decent fan showing?
I think Chicago and Madison have potential for very big crowds and a lot of sponsorship/prize money, but the weather is so questionable this time of year there. How many fans were at the NYC course last year?
Standing with comfortable space each person takes up about a yard and with both sides of the road over the 5 miles we get 17600 viewers per 5 mile lap. Will that happen remains to be seen. A running related event for spectators in the park going on at the same time might bring casual fans out to the park-a health Expo on the Great Lawn-kiddie races in Sheeps Meadow,Bandshell bands ect happening with a noonish start but with a 7:30 AM start I really do not see a whole bunch of non-runners setting the alarm to join-in.
10,000 might be the upper end of spectators no matter the add-ons.
If NYRR promotes the US Marathon Champs properly it should be one of the most spectated events ever in U.S. distance running history.
Hanson-Brooks To Scout OT Marathon Courses
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 14
Hansons-Brooks Distance Project to Return to Boston Marathon
Women's Team to Scout Boston Marathon and U.S. Olympic Team Trials Courses in Preparation for 2007 and 2008.
Boston, Mass. – With the Boston Athletic Association hosting the 2007 USA Women's Marathon Championship as part of the Boston Marathon on April 16, and the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Women's Marathon on the day before the 112th Boston Marathon, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project women's team is now set to make their official Boston debut. The team's five women – Desiree Davila, Yolanda Flamino, Dot McMahan, Kelly Stewart, and Melissa White – will be visiting Boston on February 15-17 to train on the traditional Boston Marathon course, and to tour the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials route, which consists of multiple loops in Boston's Back Bay and into Cambridge.
Over the past seven years, the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project of Rochester, Mich., has emerged as the preeminent marathon training group in the nation. Nowhere was this status more obvious than at the 2006 Boston Marathon, when men from the Hansons program took the city by storm, placing fourth, 10th, 11th, 15th, 18th, 19th and 22nd. The Hansons team was a large part of an American resurgence at last year’s Boston Marathon: a race where five Americans placed among the Top 10.
All five Hansons-Brooks women will return in two months to compete in the 2007 Boston Marathon. White (2:39:21 PR), McMahan (2:43:27 PR) and Flamino (2:45:19 PR) have already run U.S. Olympic Team Trials qualifying standards, while Davila (debut) and Stewart (2:58:21 PR) will be attempting to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Boston. The women will be competing for overall Boston Marathon prize money and a separate prize money purse for U.S. women.
Accompanying the team to Boston this week will be Hansons-Brooks co-founders Keith and Kevin Hanson. The brothers, who own a chain of running shoe stores in Michigan, founded the Distance Project in 2000 with the goal of giving something back to the sport. They now own several houses for the team, and provide travel, coaching and part-time jobs for 22 athletes.
As a part of its American Development Program, the B.A.A. is devoted to assisting top American marathoners to visit Boston and train on the courses where they will soon be competing for the 2007 national championship and the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Also as a part of the American Development Program, the B.A.A. sponsored a men’s group from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, as well as seventh place 2006 Boston Marathon finisher Peter Gilmore of California, as they competed at the Ohme-Hochi 30K Road Race in Japan earlier this month. All of these athletes are expected to compete at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon in the fall of this year in New York City.
Established in 1887, the Boston Athletic Association is a non-profit organization with a mission of managing athletic events and promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A.'s Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, and the organization manages other local events and supports comprehensive charity, youth, and year-round running programs. Since 1986, the principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon has been John Hancock Financial Services. In 2006, the Boston Marathon launched – along with the Flora London Marathon also in April – the World Marathon Majors series. Other events in the series include the Berlin-Marathon, The LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, and the ING New York City Marathon.
English ain't your thing is it?
HS CC meets generate more spectators than the 2007 race in VCP. Boulder crushed any USATF CC meet in the last 10 years. Look at pictures of the finish at VCP - compare them to Boulder, no comparison.
"10,000 is an exagerrated figure from the organizers and has been propagated as gospel by the T&F/XC good-old-boys-and-girls network, you know who they are ;-) Yet I can say there was more people there than at VCP last year, or at any XC nats that I've been too. There was more people that at Fukuoka WXC, but not as much as WXC in Brussels, St. Etienne, or Lausanne. The interest I've from the media and websites are lower than last year. Why ? I can't really say for sure, but the Halls, Webb, Tollefson, etc. not showing might be the reason. Perhaps the fact that so many hinted beforehand the reluctunce to venture to Mombasa. The biggest reason I suspect is the conflict with the Tyson meet on the same weekend, Tyson has recently always held the meet the 2nd week of February, and USATF XC was always recently the third week of February, I think next year they need to do that again, i.e. move the 2008 USATF XC *forward* one week to the *third* week of February as before."
San Francisco!
On the mall in DC! That'd be cool.
San Fran. wouldn't be a bad choice, especially since it is a cool city and has nice weather. However, what was fan turnout this past year at Club Nats?
I was at last year's champs at VCP. Granted that the weather was awful (cold, snow flurries), and there were 2 races over 2 days to dilute the competition and the crowds, nonetheless the crowd was not very large -- 500-1,000 people on Saturday, maybe. That's a seat-of-the-pants guess, but I could get right up to the course right by the finish line. It was dissapointing, but there didn't seem to be the publicity that there was this year.
Frisco would be nice, GG park is flat, parking is limited. Crystal Springs is a good course. Stanford Golf Course is ideal. You can fly into 3 major airports.
Yeah not to mention that idiot announcer with the stupid limey accent who kept saying "FOO KEY OH KAH". Drove everyone who can read english nuts.
Goodyear Metro Park in Akron......Plenty of room to stand & watch, a killer hill and some decent trails