I don’t disagree that there are a fair number of either non-competitive road races or races put on by people who clearly aren’t runners in markets all over the country, but are people who are complaining about their local road race scene in (or near) a city (even a small—100,000ish people— one)? Because I’ve lived in a few different places all over the country, and every time I’ve lived in or near a reasonable population center, there have always been at least a handful (3-10+, depending on the market) of good, local races of various distances throughout the year that would attract 500-2,000 runners including, for whatever reason (history, prize purse, fast course, on an RRCA or USATF Grand Prox) most of the good local good runners, and even some out-of-area talent.
Even if the races weren’t perfect (more expensive than some old-school runners would like, no prize purse, sometimes with the leaders catching up to slower runners running a shorter distance), they were at least competently-produced and a good chance to compete. And no, they aren’t every weekend in every market, but between traveling once or twice a year and racing two or three less competitive local races, it’s enough to form the backbone of a good annual racing schedule. Are there any major population centers that don’t have that? If so, that’s a shame (and also a business opportunity—and if enough of you name your lacking market on here or in other venues, some entrepreneurial RD is going to pick up on the opportunity and fix the problem).
Now, I understand if you live somewhere rural or remote that you probably don’t have that, but isn’t that the trade-off of rural life? That you have to drive 30-45 minutes for even the essentials and sometimes several hours for things (like a competitive road race) that are a luxury or require a critical mass of people to support them? But I also doubt that you have to deal with a glut of sub-par road races full of tutu-wearing non-competitive participants in your area—there’s just aren’t many (if any) road races of any type/quality in your area, period!
Seriously, though, who here currently lives in a city with two or fewer good races for serious runners, and if you do, what city is it?