If you want to increase spectator popularity and subsequently more $$$, these are the changes that should made to distance running.
Road races should be raced in no longer than mile laps. There should be a good viewing section/stadium where runners have to run through (each mile or even 3/4 of mile) so spectators can watch the development of the race. Of course the race would finish in the stadium. You would have to have less runners.
An electronic score board providing information about pace, position, time behind leader, etc. Provide a simple program with a little bio of the best runners.
Changes to make distance running more spectator friendly.
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Shoe Cam®!!!!
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Those ideas don't sound too great, especially for marathons. I do agree though that marathoning in general is incredibly unfriendly to spectators.
I think that since organizers are so obsessed about fast times and WRs all majors races besides Boston are super flat and are practically indistinguishable. I mean, who actually enjoys watching a big pack of Africans/pacers run at a constant 4:40/mi for 2 hours with maybe a sprint finish in the last 800?
My suggestions for the Majors:
-More variety in courses. Why not have a race in the Pyrenees with a big prize money pot for good competition? I'm personally sick of watching fast flat marathons through interchangeable capital cities.
-Different distances. It allows a bigger pool of athletes who specialize at shorter/longer distances to compete.
-Stop chasing the WR. It's not that big of a deal. Really.
Basically make distance running more like cycling. -
Marathon would generate much more interest here for spectating fans, if there were some AMERICAN WINNERS!
Can you handle the truth? -
Also, how about a couple drones covering marathon races? That would be great coverage!
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Marathons seem pretty popular without gimmicks.
Estimated # Marathon Spectators
New York City - 2 million
Tokyo - 1.72 million
Chicago 1.7 million
Berlin - 1 million
London - 750,000
Boston - 500,000
New York can't attract more than 2,500 for a Diamond League event. How many do you think will show up to watch the last 400m of a mile
And in case you haven't noticed, track events are run on a 400m loop. -
Randy Oldman wrote:
Marathons seem pretty popular without gimmicks.
Estimated # Marathon Spectators
New York City - 2 million
Tokyo - 1.72 million
Chicago 1.7 million
Berlin - 1 million
London - 750,000
Boston - 500,000
New York can't attract more than 2,500 for a Diamond League event. How many do you think will show up to watch the last 400m of a mile
And in case you haven't noticed, track events are run on a 400m loop.
You're FOS as usual. None of those marathons or holiday parades have 1 million people, that number shouldn't even pass the giggle test. -
For races of 5000m and longer, have primes like cycling where the announcer randomly says first person across the finish line on the current lap gets $1000.
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In a 5000 m start the race with 20 runners and remove every lap the last runner.
Everytime on the homestraight there would be a sprint/fight.
We used to do a similar thing in my training group at the end if the season. -
-Cash prizes along route (miles 1, 6.2, 13.1, 20, 26.2). Would make it very interesting to see some road racers sprint out for a sub-4 mile and see how it affects time. Could also see mid-distance guys showing up at distance events.
-Multiple day tours. Various stages of 3-20 miles per day. Uphill finishes, downhill finishes, solo track time trials, team time trial, etc. Basically like a tour de france for running. Fastest overall time wins.
-Podium girls -
Tour de France style of events would be fantastic. Having large groups of professional runners running through the countrysides and small hilly towns with a "king of the mountain", "sprinter", "overall leader", etc. The times wouldn't matter it would be first to the line. And considering the hilly nature to each event, records would be moot. People would like the streets in the mountains and root on their favorite runners. Each day's event could include an amateur race of up to a thousand runners starting 20 minutes after the pros to help drum up spectators. A lottery would determine the amateur runners and each amateur would only be allowed to run 1 of the 10-15 total events to help spread the wealth of different runners allowed.
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one word: "bears"
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The athletes should pay the spectators to fill the stands.
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Make it more like roller derby. I know I'd pay to watch someone bitch-slap Ryan Hall as they're running sub-5 minute miles.
Or like the other poster stated, make it like the Tour de France. Place, not time is all that matters.
Heck, even make it like "professional wresting." Have heroes and heels, trash-talking, overblown personalities, and rivalries. -
ekw wrote:
Tour de France style of events would be fantastic..
Nooooooooooooooo!
It's not what you think it is. Not at all.
The point is, the promoter is making money on entry fees, not spectators.
There is no money on spectators. Media rights is where all of the fight is now. -
Full Contact Ultimate Fighting Marathon Running.
You are allowed to full contact other runners like Roller Derby, or Roller Ball.
RW or TFN once ran an April Fools article about a new "Full Contact Indoor Marathon League."
Marathon on a track. With blocking and hitting.
You know America would love it and watch it.
Bread and Circuses. -
Bad Wigins wrote:
one word: "bears"
one letter change: beers -
Speaker of Hard Truths wrote:
Randy Oldman wrote:
Marathons seem pretty popular without gimmicks.
Estimated # Marathon Spectators
New York City - 2 million
Tokyo - 1.72 million
Chicago 1.7 million
Berlin - 1 million
London - 750,000
Boston - 500,000
New York can't attract more than 2,500 for a Diamond League event. How many do you think will show up to watch the last 400m of a mile
And in case you haven't noticed, track events are run on a 400m loop.
You're FOS as usual. None of those marathons or holiday parades have 1 million people, that number shouldn't even pass the giggle test.
If you count the people who glance out the window as the marathon passes by, and those waiting to cross the street, then those might be legit numbers, though probably still exaggerated. But they aren't exactly "spectators". Especially not paying spectators. -
sidd wrote:
-Cash prizes along route (miles 1, 6.2, 13.1, 20, 26.2). Would make it very interesting to see some road racers sprint out for a sub-4 mile and see how it affects time. Could also see mid-distance guys showing up at distance events.
Stupid. Runners would just go for their preferred distance and walk the rest of the "race". -
Charlie Sheen's tiger blood wrote:
Marathon would generate much more interest here for spectating fans, if there were some AMERICAN WINNERS!
Can you handle the truth?
Thank you. Most of the guys posting are just too young to remember when marathoning and even shorter (10K,15K) road races were on TV with a ton of spectators and a large TV audience.
The difference: More nations represented they were not 10 guys from one or two countries.
