Why did road races feel like such a big deal in the 70s and 80s?

A lot of it may be nostalgia. But, as a 24 year old, I totally understand what you mean. My understanding is that low-key road races WERE much more competitive back in the day, without all of the pomp and circumstance that surround so many big races now.

For example, I ran in an RRCA sponsored state-wide 10-miler for all of the area's club teams back in February. Around 20 guys ran sub-55, with more than 50 going sub-60. It's worth noting that it was pouring rain, 40 degrees, and a hilly course with over 600 feet of elevation gain.

But there was zero ceremony around the race. It was just a bunch of guys milling about in a gym before and after the race. We all somehow meandered out to the starting line 10 minutes before the race started, and as an air horn sounded, we took off from a community college parking lot.

After the race, I felt like I was transported back to the 70's or 80's. The whole low-key atmosphere, everyone sporting some club's singlet, and all of the fast times. No DJ, no MC, no beer tent, no spectacle. After the race I got a banana, a bagel, and of all things, a pair of rough gardening gloves. It was just amazing that so many fast people showed up for a race on a hard course in rough conditions. I felt like I was taken back in time.

You answered your own question. Running was still a niche sport that attracted only the best (no hobby joggers or pseudo Instragram fitness models trying to 'flex' for the gram). It was raw, authentic. There was still excitement due to its newness. People thought runners were weird and it was a big curiosity. Now everything has become diluted and the emphasis is on participation trophies and 'swag' rather than the feat of running itself.

Back then large road races were a new thing and it was a big deal to have major streets closed off and being able to run in front of your family, friends, and thousands of other spectators. Plus back then you didn’t have Kenyans and other pros parachuting in to claim all the podium spots and prizes, usually it was the local club guys who had run for local colleges, plus the local college guys if it was their offseason.

A curious cat wrote:

People thought runners were weird and it was a big curiosity.

I’m curious- why the use of past tense in this sentence?

In addition to the relevant information already shared above, there are far more races today due to people seeing a race as an easy fundraiser. "My cousin needs braces, let's put on a race." "The boosters need $ so the football team can travel on a charter bus instead of a school bus, let's put on a race." It goes on and on and since there are fewer hardcore racers in the field things like accurate distance, prize money, etc. are no longer needed. Add in timing companies who make knowledge of how a race is organized obsolete and virtually anyone can put one on and pocket at least something. It is hard for a race to feel like a big deal when what is in the swag bag is more important than how competitive the field will be.

That is a pretty unique race . The club aspect makes it so fewer true hobby joggers will race it, as does the 10 mile distance. Anything between 5K and the marathon probably gets a smaller hobby jogger entrant percentage.

What is this eerie race? So we can all show next time and make it current ...

A friend of mine of mine had an idea for a race:

That 70's Race.

Spray paint a starting line in the road, give Popsicle sticks with your place at the finish (I miss that!) then have a charcoal barbq after the race. Good times.

A curious cat wrote:

You answered your own question. Running was still a niche sport that attracted only the best (no hobby joggers or pseudo Instragram fitness models trying to 'flex' for the gram). It was raw, authentic. There was still excitement due to its newness. People thought runners were weird and it was a big curiosity. Now everything has become diluted and the emphasis is on participation trophies and 'swag' rather than the feat of running itself.

This is true. We were reminiscing a few days ago- in my area most races back then were 100-150 hard core runners.

Prizes were often top 3-5 overall and top 3 in AG's.

Very often prizes were tables full of donated merchandise from stores. They would start with 1st place (women first) and work back going through the AG's.

My favorite story was the day my toaster broke the morning of a race. I was 3rd overall and what was on the table? Yep, a toaster!

Good times

Comment: Back then, 5Ks were seldom held. Why bother? The shortest road race distances tended to be 5-Milers and 10Ks.

Nostalgia for sure.

So wether hobby joggers show up or not changes the attendance of elite runners how?

A few responses are pretty spot on. As someone that started running during the first boom and ran a lot of road races I'll toss in my two cents.

1) There were fewer races. That means that all the decent runners were in one place.

2) The road race scene was new and it attracted a lot of former track and xc athletes as well as people looking to do "something" athletic after finishing with the ball sports. Because of this the events were seen as a race, not a parade.

3) There wasn't a lot of certified courses and computerized timing, so some of those results.... I'd take with a grain of salt. (Not all but some, especially smaller local races.)

4) There wasn't really much if any focus on road racing as a fund raiser. That really started rolling in the 90's and has stuck.

Sons of Squires wrote:

Comment: Back then, 5Ks were seldom held. Why bother? The shortest road race distances tended to be 5-Milers and 10Ks.

Yeah, I ran those road races in late 60s to mid-70s, around Boston, and New England. you had to have an AAU card and entry fees were like $2. No frills, no charity extortion, prizes were donated by local businesses. Winner would get like a clock radio. Runners were all serious and you'd see some of the same guys every week, and there were a lot of working class guys with the North Medford Club, or Cambridge Sports Union.

For me, the prize money ruined it. The sport is dominated by Kenyans of various levels depending on the amounts.

A few years ago, I saw the results of a race where only the top five were listed and 5th place ran under 28:00. It sounded like an incredible race, but I found out, after some research, that I could have finished 6th with a 33:00

SDSU Aztec wrote:

For me, the prize money ruined it. The sport is dominated by Kenyans of various levels depending on the amounts.

A few years ago, I saw the results of a race where only the top five were listed and 5th place ran under 28:00. It sounded like an incredible race, but I found out, after some research, that I could have finished 6th with a 33:00

Bingo.

In 1986, a 33 flat would get me 6th or so.

Today, if I could run that, I'd win most of the races where I live, ALL of them in 46 or so US states.

I think that most everyone trained hard and ran hard back in the 70's & 80's. Probably in the 60's also. Can't state that as fact because I didn't start running until the mid 70's. I ran a sub 60 in a 10 mile race (certified course) in '83 and only finished like 350th of 800 runners. It was a Nor Cal championship race in Stockton.

Powered by Plutus ads wrote:

I know the obvious answer to this is my age, but it really felt like road races in the late 1970s and the first few years of the 80s were this big dang deals, compared to now.

Then: Fields of 1,000 for big races all over, fast times to win, fast times all over. Not walking was a thing.

Now: Fields of 1,000 are small. Times are slow, and depth is non-existent. Probably half are walking, some arm-in-arm.

I am thinking there were far fewer races. I bet that in many parts of the country you can find a race on any weekend with a 2hr drive.

Is there a city in the top 100 in population that does NOT have a marathon? (Seriously, I may start a post for that question).

Luv2Run wrote:

Powered by Plutus ads wrote:

I know the obvious answer to this is my age, but it really felt like road races in the late 1970s and the first few years of the 80s were this big dang deals, compared to now.

Then: Fields of 1,000 for big races all over, fast times to win, fast times all over. Not walking was a thing.

Now: Fields of 1,000 are small. Times are slow, and depth is non-existent. Probably half are walking, some arm-in-arm.

I am thinking there were far fewer races. I bet that in many parts of the country you can find a race on any weekend with a 2hr drive.

Is there a city in the top 100 in population that does NOT have a marathon? (Seriously, I may start a post for that question).

I doubt it. Shoot, OMAHA has two marathons. They're like a week apart. Yeah ...

old guy 72 wrote:

I think that most everyone trained hard and ran hard back in the 70's & 80's. Probably in the 60's also. Can't state that as fact because I didn't start running until the mid 70's. I ran a sub 60 in a 10 mile race (certified course) in '83 and only finished like 350th of 800 runners. It was a Nor Cal championship race in Stockton.

I ran that Stockton race many times in the early 80s, I ran 52 minutes and did not even crack the top 50 runners. I think that most of us ran then because we loved it (the training and the racing) and wanted to see how fast we could get. There was no money as an incentive, it was personal. Also we ran big mileage, which could be a sacrifice with a job and a family to take care of.

Today these typical road races are a social event, I am not knocking or being disrespectful to people that are running the 5-6 hour marathons. But the bottom line is they are not doing the work, whether it be running 80-90 miles a week or 120-130 miles a week, you are not going to perform in the marathon or 10k for that matter training (if you can call it that) like many of the participants are doing today.