mopoff wrote:
Maybe this was true years ago, but it's not true now. I ran Philly this year (two weeks ago). It was very well organized in every way...
...I'm not commenting on the main issue of this thread: whether people cut the course and whether marathon officials did enough to prevent that. I didn't see any course cutting and doubt the situation in Philly is different from that of any other US marathon of that size.
Based on their reputation in the industry, along with the nature of the course (long out-and-back), the last part of your last sentence would be incorrect. Philly is about the 10th largest marathon in the US, if you look at any marathons in the Top 25 largest in the US nobody has as many cutting the course as Philly does, not even close. Every year I take a look through their results for entertainment value. I started doing that in 2003 when one of the guys I coach told me 2 runners cut over from one side of the out-and-back to the other right in front of him. It's never changed, including this year.
If the RD cared, she could easily put practices in place to drastically decrease the cheater rate. First off, all you have to do is go through the results and toss out the cases where entrants have ridiculous splits. Do that for a couple years and the word would get out to those who plan to cheat, a big deterrent in itself.
But the RD doesn't have a background in race management so don't expect anything to change. Their priorities are elsewhere, namely on how can they bring the maximum number of runners to this race. The press release when she was hired last spring tells you all you need to know, "...I plan to continue guiding the Philadelphia Marathon’s growth through a mix of marketing, social media, traditional approaches and other strategic avenues, showcasing the race
not only as athletic event but as a platform highlighting our dynamic city as a destination place."
In a lot of ways they are doing a good job. I had a bunch of friends who ran, some fairly competitively. Many have gone down to Philly numerous times to do this race and all would go back. All say it gets better every year. But the fact that they are ok producing results that are that fictitious blows me away.