The piece itself isn't awful, although I don't agree with it. I think it's right that it's hard to commentate during a marathon because a dozen bios get thrown at you and the general public has zero attachment to any of them. The mass public doesn't have favorite runners. In golf and tennis, you follow your favorite few but can still appreciate the game no matter who wins. In running, most people follow nobody and don't know a good time versus a bad time. So why should we cater to the general public? Mo and Galen are two of the biggest names in distance running and some folks in the general public do know who they are. If we're trying to build the sport, sure, we should be promoting them in the lead-up to this race. But you can do that and still have an invited runner field. Actual fans of the sport don't want to see two runners with nobody else there in a marathon. The women's race was boring last year when Dibaba broke away. That was eventually a 1 v 1 match-up. Chicago has prize money for the top finishers, and probably time bonuses. When you have a huge marathon like Chicago, they have a duty to build up the sport by getting as much prize money to as many people as possible. Marathon running just isn't popular. The people who follow the sport are way more excited about this year's field vs last year when the field appeared to be a bit watered down. Marathoning is more exciting when you have a ton of good runners competing and people still in it late. A 1 v 1 duel doesn't give you that in a marathon when someone could drop out at halfway. The 1 on 1 stuff is nice for shorter races where you don't need months to recover. Maybe they can try out a 1 v 1 for a half marathon or for an obscure distance like a 12k or 25k. Also, if you can't see the value of bringing Yuki to Chicago, an international city with international runners competing in the mass start, think about it some more. Yeah, he might not win but I'm sure there will be lots of people trying to snap a photo with him race weekend.
