Not An Expert wrote:
runn wrote:I thought including 1/2 marathons in the series would help do that.
Run a couple marathons and 2 or 3 halfs and they're in the public eye for most of the year.
I think this is the kernel of a great idea. The World Marathon Majors could serve as the backbone of the World Road Racing Circuit. Every year four 5ks, four 10ks, four half marathons, and four "off-distance" races, plus the WMMs, could form a PGA-, WTA-, or NASCAR-like circuit.
Points are scored for placing in the top-10 at each event. Double-points are scored at a designated "major" at each distance, and triple points are scored at each WMM race. Add the points up from each runner's top X finishes (somewhere in the 6-8 range seems right), with each runner allowed no more than two scoring races at each distance, and you've got an annual World Road Running Champion.
Add in a sub-series for specialists where you add the points from each runner's top three finishes at a specific distance and you've got an annual World 5k Champion, World 10k Champion, and World HM Champion (like the KoM or points winners in the TdF).
An annual structure like this is a lot easier to follow than the current two-year WMM cycle, and the off-distance "majors" structure would at least incentivize the top athletes to compete against each other in meaningful non-marathon races.
Of course, this whole may undermine the purpose of the WMMs, as their goal is to distinguish their races from others, and including others in their series might diminish that distinction. But maybe this or something like this is something that the IAAF could pull off, pulling from it's current "permit" races. It seems unlikely, but it's nice to think about and dream of . . .
I eamiled the WMM with my idea and they said that they wanted ti to be pure marathoning to distinguish it from other races/distances.
Too bad, it's a good idea but too limited. I even forget about the points and Universal didn't mention it at all- and I watched London and Boston.