Los Angeles: 2016 US Olympic Trials Marathon Site Selected

that's good news - we need the publicity. Great that they were able to change the race date to February for the athlete's benefit too.

clearly, LA wants another go at the olympics - good on 'em

I can't see a negative here

The whole selection process this year was shady- actually, it didn't even follow a process. The LDR made their suggestion for Houston, who has supported American distance running year in and year out, and Max used executive power to overturn it.

It was obvious the selection came down to money and not down to the best way to select a team.

Seriously, when was the last time you thought "I need to go to the LA Marathon because I want to get my OT qualifier" Nick Arcianaga is the only male to run a qualifying time there since 2010.

Race Results Weekly article.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/01/los-angeles-host-2016-olympic-marathon-trials/

The one change that came about from the Committee favoring Houston was the date being moved to middle of February.

Muffy wrote:

We have our Trials Site: LA

http://www.usatf.org/News/Los-Angeles-to-host-2016-Olympic-Team-Trials-For-M.aspx

I was ok with Houston or LA being selected, I am just disappointed by the way this was decided. Hopefully this doesn't discourage Houston or any other locations from throwing their hats in the ring in years to follow.

No love for the person who posted it first?

Added Perspective wrote:

Muffy wrote:

We have our Trials Site: LA

http://www.usatf.org/News/Los-Angeles-to-host-2016-Olympic-Team-Trials-For-M.aspx

I was ok with Houston or LA being selected, I am just disappointed by the way this was decided. Hopefully this doesn't discourage Houston or any other locations from throwing their hats in the ring in years to follow.

No love for the person who posted it first?

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=5610002

My Bad. I didn't see it in the first 20 or so posts on the forum, so I started one...

We have our Trials Site: LA

http://www.usatf.org/News/Los-Angeles-to-host-2016-Olympic-Team-Trials-For-M.aspx

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2014/01/los-angeles-host-2016-olympic-marathon-trials/

I was ok with Houston or LA being selected, I am just disappointed by the way this was decided. Hopefully this doesn't discourage Houston or any other locations from throwing their hats in the ring in years to follow.

Muffy wrote:

The whole selection process this year was shady- actually, it didn't even follow a process. The LDR made their suggestion for Houston, who has supported American distance running year in and year out, and Max used executive power to overturn it.

It was obvious the selection came down to money and not down to the best way to select a team.

Seriously, when was the last time you thought "I need to go to the LA Marathon because I want to get my OT qualifier" Nick Arcianaga is the only male to run a qualifying time there since 2010.

It came down to where Maxipad wants to rub elbows with some of the celebs he follows on Twitter.

Muffy wrote:

My Bad. I didn't see it in the first 20 or so posts on the forum, so I started one...

For what it's worth, I typically scan through the entire first page to avoid doing that. I actually saw the first thread a bit earlier and stopped myself from making a duplicate.

On the other hand, Wejo himself apparently didn't notice the first thread either, so you are in good company! ;-)

Can't express what a great move this is. Thankfully the USATF finally have an executive that gets the bigger picture. I also am quite confident he didn't make this decision on his own. And we should all hope those celebs he may follow on twitter show up. It can do so much for the sport.

LA moved their marathon. That's impressive in so many ways and shows that they want to advance the sport to a new level.

You can all cut on Max. Rip on the process. He doesn't care. He cares about growing the sport. I am, however, interested in what kind of television coverage this will get. I'm staying tuned.

Tracey Russell is great at getting events to the next level. In their wake, she leaves a lot of disenchanted volunteers who are generally what makes the sport of running "work."

I'll be interested to see how LA goes. Sure the marathon trials will be great. But wonder how many folks she steamrolls to make it happen, and how great it will be 3-4 years down the road when those folks quit volunteering.

I watched her come and go through the Atlanta Track Club, and there is no love lost here... good luck to her.

Maybe Maxie will FEEL GOOD about himself when all the volunteers quit. USATF needs to wake up - about the only country in the world that runs the sport with volunteers.

Could you imagine the Olympic Trials being held, and NO one volunteered.

How many young adults do you see officiating track meets!!!

Already the LA 2015 Special Olympics World Games are next July-August, 2015. With two dozen sports, 7,000 athletes, and 500,000 fans it's the largest international meeting in the world for 2015.

Our 2016 Oly MTs is another landmark event to get dozens of venues, facilities, and organizations prepared for IAAF WC 2019 UCLA, USOC T&F Trials 2020 at Mt Sac CC, and Summer Olympic Games 2024 at USC.

Suzy Favor lives in L.A.

Is this what you kids get butt hurt about now... Someone else posting a similar thread?

In a lot of countries Olympic and sport organizations are run by cronies, often kids of politically connected or wealthy.

Haha moron thinks the volunteers will quit. THEY WILL NEVER QUIT.

There are really some stupid people on this thread.

The negative people that complain about LA getting the marathon are either from Houston, NY or Cinci or hate USATF in general. And all could really care less if the sport progresses or not.

The issue is with how the site was selected. What's the point in having a bidding process if it's just going to go where Max wants? I am glad they moved the date to work better for the athletes.

The issue is with how the site was selected. What's the point in having a bidding process if it's just going to go where Max wants? I am glad they moved the date to work better for the athletes.

How many times have NCAA and USATF been bribed in the bidding process by regional potentates resulting in scant social media, internet, and TV exposure of our student-athletes and elites. Now we finally have a real media savvy CEO in charge of USATF that has put us back in the limelight, on center stage in Los Angeles, the entertainment capitol of the world.

I'm not sure I agree with the argument that moving the trials to a major city like LA or NYC really helps move the sport into the limelight. If the Lakers are playing, they'll still be the big story in town, or the Kings, or the UCLA Bruins, or the Clippers, or the Trojans, or the Ducks. Houston put on a great event. We were a big story in Birmingham. Twin Cities treats the elites very well. Club Nats in Bend was a blast and there was a lot going on to cater to the athletes. If the marathon wants to be in the spotlight, it probably shouldn't compete with Kobe for the starring role. LA does have some things going for it as it has several major airports and plenty of hotels, an ocean, other attractions, which make it a good destination, but the big city lights aren't necessarily welcoming to the best marathoners in the country.