Mismanaged Free Press Marathoner

Can not agree more...Kurtis can not get over himself. Nobody is interested in his act of self-promotion..about how great he is with his so-called or is it self appointed world record of sub 220 marathons. Quite the opposite from the previous thread about how humble Marc Nenow is and his previous AR at 10k carried far clout than sub 220's.

Mr. Kurtis makes decisions based on what is best for Mr. Kurtis. He usually hides behind his decisions and blames them on someone else. I am speaking from experience. I thoroughly expect him to say that he is not the race director when we all know that he pulls all the strings that he wants to.

Don't know the guy, but I can say I always thought his "just running to break 2:20" and get the free trips sort of made him king of the joggers. But I'm the type who gets impressed by the quality of life and not by simply how long someone lives.

It is Tuesday Morning at 9:30 am in Detroit and after reading this mornings Free Press, nothing has been done yet as far as disqualifying Kent Hollingsworth. This is why this marathon will never be considered a level 1 marathon. In New York after Martin Franklin cheated his name was erased from the Records before the awards ceremony. In Detroit 2 days later they are trying to figure out how to handle it. I guarantee that they will eventually do the right thing and then they will say how they were trying to "make sure before making a ruling". This marathon is a joke and it is the people in charge that are creating the problem. I am going to write letters to Flagstar Banks and Greektown Casino's about the negative press and how this is a poor way for them to spend their money. I encourage anyone else that is upset with how Doug Kurtis has destroyed a good thing to write as well. We have about 30 members of our club, from all different walks of life that are writing letters but we could use the support.

I am all for it. It's to bad that Mr. Self Annointed Sub 220 can only see what's in it for himself. To quote Chris Farley form Tommy Boy.."Sticking your head up a cow's ass doesn'take you a butcher now does it?" Nor does running a sub 220 marathon or two or three qualify you a good race director.

I don't believe Kurtis is the race director, I believe Pat Ball is. However he does hold some appointment in it, last I heard technical course director or something like that.

I don't think it is unreasonable to take a couple days to gather all possible evidence before rendering an official verdict, it would be much dumber to jump to conclusions and get doubly embarassed (though in this case it is pretty obvious). Same reasoning behind not blasting Afghanistan of Sept 12 2001.

While nothing is yet official, I have spoken to those with information and the unsurprising decision will be publicized soon.

The Detroit Marathon is far from attracting the attention and crowd it potentially could, but give them a little credit for their positive attempts. It is international again, the course this year was the best they've had in recent memory, and the race itself was much more organized. Steps in the right direction. One idiot ignoring barricades and cutting the course does not make it a lousy marathon.

As to Mr. 2:20, I wonder how fast he could have run one if he'd peaked for 1-2 a year instead of running 10. He made a lot of Trials but I don't recall that he ever made an Olympic team.

What are you talking about? You are going to compare invading another country to making a call in a sporting event. Get Real. The NFL has 2 minutes to review and some people think that is too long. The New York Marathon made the call in less than an hour and the only debate was whether or not to press charges. I will guarantee that they are going to DQ him so why not just make the friggin decision. MISMANAGEMENT. We need you Dr. Kozloff.

We now have 42 people that will be meeting at my house tonight for a letter writing campaign and cook out. The more the merrier. You are right Pat Ball is the race director after Doug appointed her. She was his live in girlfriend at the time. Doug still says he's in charge when it comes to taking the credit for something but I am sure poor Pat is probably in charge now.

All I know is I sat on the VIP boat after Grandma's a few years back listening to Curtis calling himself the race director. Maybe giving the title to the signiicant other is a way of deflecting criticism from himself while he still calls the shots...?

Do you have an e-mail address?

Doug Kurtis ran a wind aided 2:13 marathon. I never met the

man, so I don't have an opinion of him. I could ask my

buddies for some stories.

Lifetime Motor City Strider wrote:

What are you talking about? You are going to compare invading another country to making a call in a sporting event. Get Real. The NFL has 2 minutes to review and some people think that is too long. The New York Marathon made the call in less than an hour and the only debate was whether or not to press charges. I will guarantee that they are going to DQ him so why not just make the friggin decision. MISMANAGEMENT. We need you Dr. Kozloff.

The NFL also has 20 cameras following every play of the game. Making a quick call is as simple as watching the tape. Where's the tape of this guy cutting the course? Nowhere. Yes, his splits pretty much give it away, but it's not photographic evidence. There isn't even a witness that he did it, just runners who didn't see him one minute and saw him the next. Even Rosie got ratted by witnesses on the subway. He'll get DQ'd (or already is), cool your shorts.

My analogy still stands. Whether it's invading a country or DQing a runner, acting before all the facts are gathered will still make you look stupid if you screw up.

To let you know....

The reason Martin Franklin was disqualified was that his chip didn't register at more than one of the mats on the course. That's why NYC had the ability to DQ him "before the awards". Let them make a decision on this issue. Don't compare this to other events (war, NFL, Etc) and let them handle it the way they want to handle it.

And before you and your 42 buddies go to typing class.... think about the consequences of your actions. If you write letters to Flagstar Bank and Greektown Casino and they possibly pull their money; is it possible that there is no marathon next year? All because 42 people want to make their voice be heard? I suggest writing letters to the person you feel is at fault.

Last thing, negative press??? Put the gas can away.

Devil's Advocate

That is an interesting suggestion (writing a letter to those responsible). That is exactly how I handled it last year while disgusted by several occurances and a whole lot of negative press. I complained about how the Hansen-Kirwa fiascal went down. I complained about how Mr. Kirwa the eventual winner never showed to the awards ceremony and how bad it reflected on the event. I explained that all you had to do is write it into the contract and simply don't pay the winner if they don't follow the contract. This year Mr. Kariuki was the winner and guess what?? No show to the awards ceremony. This is poor management and I feel that the sponsors should be made aware of this. If that means that they pull dollars from the event, that is the fault of mismanagement. The letter writing campaign is underway. The reason that I am on this website right now is I am showing a house full of people this thread. We even have a Flagstar Branch Manager here. Advertisers should be treated fairly, it is not just a matter of taking their money. Mr. Kariuki, Mr. Kirwa, and the race management need to learn this lesson.

A guest wanted me to ask this question. Why wait to DQ or at least make a ruling?

1. They already know his splits (1:15-1:07).

2. They have no eyewitness of the incident.

What possible new information could they attain at this time that could help in making a decision?

"I complained about this", "I complained about that", "I hated this" "meet management needs to learn a lesson"

Is there anything you do besides complain???????

"It is Tuesday Morning at 9:30 am in Detroit and after reading this mornings Free Press, nothing has been done yet as far as disqualifying Kent Hollingsworth. This is why this marathon will never be considered a level 1 marathon."

So Detroit hasn't grown in the last few years b/c someone cut the course every year and the meet management didn't DQ him.

I'm curious as to what you think level 1 means. My opinion; you can have the best meet management in the world and race director (sounds like this Dr. Kozloff is a good one) site, and crowds but if you don't have financial support then your event will never grow. So write letters & raise hell to those financial supporters. I'm sure they'll find that guy and DQ him.

Nip

And AH: "cool your shorts"... No doubt!!!! Sounds like meet management just killed this guys dog or something.

I agree wholeheartedly with Nip and AH... sounds like the Motor City Striders would be more aptly named the Motor City Whiners. With all this griping and moaning, I suggest you get your progesterone levels checked as there appears to be some sort of imbalance.

Actually, I would classify this as a classic case of transferance. Motor City Strider doesn't like Kurtis for whatever reason (maybe Pat Ball is Motor City's ex), but instead of facing that issue, Motor City is making a huge deal out of this guy that will be DQed. Then, while bringing up a petition of no confidence to the sponsors, the Motor City Striders will help screw it up for everyone and help make the marathon more of a second class event than it already is.

Learn how to confront the real issue, Strider. You're giving your group a bad name.

Honestly, how good of a marathon could Detroit possibly ever be? It has to be one of the prettiest downtown settings I've ever seen.

This morning's Free Press says he has been DQ'ed. I think we can let it rest now.

KENT HOLLINGSWORTH HAS BEEN DISQUALIFIED. My point exactly. We all knew that this was inevitable. People standing on the course said "that guy cut the course". This only became a story because the race management didn't respond immediately. Meanwhile as a runner in Detroit you cannot walk the streets without someone asking "Do you think that guy cut the course?". Mismanagement made this the big story. Last year they made the hansen pacing issue the main story. I will be willing to bet that most people that ran the New York Marathon (accept for the elites) don't know anything about the Martin Franklin situation. But everyone in Detroit knows about the Kent Hollingsworth situation. We will be sending our letters out to all the sponsors from Flagstar Banks to Culligan water (29 total sponsors) to let them know how their money is being spent. We will be sending them out 3 letters a week for the next 3 to 4 months as we want to make sure they understand. They will be coming from different cities and signed by different individuals from all walks off life. I should also let you know that only 3 of us are Motor City Striders as you assumed because of my moniker that that was the angle. You could not be more wrong. We have several angles. This was just the final straw in a string of several things that have happened over the years. IT IS NOT A MATTER OF ONE GUY CHEATING.