105 marathons in 2008

[danno]

Actually, those companies your talking about, market their product,s ,e.g. golf balls, club's, golf resort,s, to people who play the game poorly, (million's of them), most golfer,s can,t score less than 100 for eighteen holes, which is similar to a 5 hour plus marathon time. So they pay Tiger to promote their brand to the all golfer's.     Also, Tiger and other top pro's play,s in a pro am every tournament with people with little or no talent that happen to either sponsor the event,s, or that are invited to play, (one of the many reasons golf is so successful as a pro. sport).   While us slow runners can,t run with the elite,s, we do get a chance to see them briefly and appreciate how good they are.  Surely, the more runner,s that see the product's name the better for the sponsor . And I do write horribly, but I play a mean game of golf and I'm happy to share the course with all golfer's.

[GTF]

And no doubt every golfer deeply appreciates your gracious magnanimity.    What matters more to a sponsor than just a relative handful of runners catching a glimpse of their name on a sponsored runner is exponentially more fans of the sport seeing published photos of said sponsored runner winning or placing at a race while wearing the sponsor logo.  Just as Woods's sponsors rely more on him getting pictured in Sports Illustrated and USA Today and shown on ESPN with a big swoosh on his shirt and visor than on being seen by just the fans who might see him on the course.  Sponsorship marketing is really about media placement, and the same goes for title sponsorship of races.  Title sponsors (like ING, John Hancock, Bank of America, etc.) put up the prize purse (and appearance fees, where they apply) as part of their negotiated sponsorship so that their name will be repeated in the media every time a press release regarding the elite field is issued, before and after the race.  That equals exposure in the billions, not merely the thousands as the case would be if sponsorship were just about those who would catch sight of the competitor and the corporate logo while at a race.  It is those who follow (or even just catch a glimpse of) the sport and the athletes in the media that the sponsors are really most interested in reaching.  That is not to say that the sponsors are uninterested in those who are at the races, just that they are not really much of a factor in the marketing decisions.  Whether two people show up to run or spectate at a race or 500,000 do, it is still small beans compared with mass media exposure.

[Ryan]

This is a topic I see often. One simple question I always ask. Do you really think ING is paying 6, if not 7, figures to be seen by thousands of slower runners or is it paying that much to be seen by millions of people via media coverage of the elite field? As for entry fees, they usually go toward extras that a lot of faster runners don't even care about, if they even notice the extras, as well as keeping streets open for several hours going right into the high traffic periods during the middle of a weekend day.

Think of it this way: races exist that have more participants than Boston but don't have the elite runners. They also don't have large sponsorships from the likes of John Hancock and adidas. Think it's a coincidence?

Not saying that the middle and back of the pack don't mean anything to the sport but their importance to the supposed funding of the elites is often far overstated.

[GTF]

These are the people and methods for inspiring and motivating kids to be runners:
http://www.runningtimes.com/Print.aspx?articleID=15244

[Ed]

True - an inspiring article.  But this artcile would not appear in a general population type publication such as the newspaper.  It is in a runner's magazine - only thiose quite interested in running would be exposed to this and not those who do not yet run.

[Ryan]

This did only appear in a running magazine but why could the article, word for word, not appear in a newspaper? Why would that kind of article or a profile of one of those specific people be any less interesting to the general population than the article about Mr. Macon?

To the general population, no offense to Mr. Macon intended but the article about him is just a story of a crazy old coot who is doing something completely unimaginable. It's interesting but how is that going to inspire anyone to take up running?

Meanwhile, to the general population, the article GTF linked to is a story about individuals helping troubled youths achieve in a world that, at times, can seem to be stacked against them. This is a popular "general interest" story in the mass media. Sure, running and competition are side aspects of the story but Mr. Macon admits what he does isn't competition and, in his case, even running is a side aspect of the story (extreme race participation could be replaced with extreme NASCAR spectating or extreme stamp collecting and the story would read much the same). As for inspiration, maybe this story wouldn't do much. Maybe it would, though. Maybe a struggling parent would see the story and encourage his or her child to join a local club. Maybe someone looking to give some time to a good cause and who has some past expreience running or is willing to learn would take the initiative to start a program locally or hook up with an already existing local program to help out.

[GTF]

True - an inspiring article.  But this artcile would not appear in a general population type publication such as the newspaper.  It is in a runner's magazine - only thiose quite interested in running would be exposed to this and not those who do not yet run.

Well, actually, (as I stated above) the people and their actions - and not the mere article about them - are what would realistically provide significant inspiration and motivation to kids.  I never stated that the article - any more than an article in the sports section about a person and accomplishment that are essentially outside the sport - in and of itself would provide inspiration to video game-playing, couch-potato kids.  Lazy kids are really no more likely to be perusing news articles, period - let alone the sports section and articles within it that are not about sports in which they do not already have an interest - than they are to pick up a running mag or look up a running website.  Of course people who already have an interest in running are the ones who could be inspired and motivated by the article itself, just as people who already have an interest in running are the ones who would bother reading an article about Macon or some other hack story about a much lesser accomplishment in running.

[Ed]

Point taken GTF - I only wish that children would be more exposed to the accomplishments of others as part of gym class or health education.  This will be where things will have to go to improve American distance running as well as fighting obesity. 

[Ryan]

When I was in high school, our cross-country coach (not surprisingly) started a class called Endurance Fitness/Olympic Sports Study. It was a combination of various aerobic activities (running, cross-country skiing, cycling, etc.) and classroom time learning about the Olympics, its various sports, and the history of the Games, both the political history and the sporting history. To be honest, the classroom time was a bit dry but it was a history class and I thought at the time that all history classes were boring.

This kind of class has some potential, though. It got people out moving around 3 times a week and it got people some exposure to sports that are not part of the mainstream.

That said, it's this kind of class that is being pushed out of the schools in order to give more time to the "core" classes. We need individuals like those in the article who will stand up and say fitness and sports are also important. Probably in part knowing that it's a tough sell to do it within school systems that have no budgetary flexibility and only a limited amount of time to produce measurable academic results, these individuals are taking it out of the school. I do think there would be benefit to taking it into the school also but it would take a brave soul to stand up to an already overextended school system and say we have another priority that needs focus.

[cesar]

how you got involved in running? if it was in highschool, how did you choose running as a sport in high school?

[Double]

Though I strongly desired to be successful playing American Football, I was not cut out physically to make our team.  We began a cross-country team my sophomore year and I quickly signed up because I always ran well against my peers.  I was our first guy from the onset and I was hooked.

I was a decent baseball player and loved the sport.  I have a 120,000 cards down in the basement as proof.  However, knowing I would not start as a sophomore I chose track and field that spring.  I won my first race in the 2 mile and as they say, the rest is history.

[SBSpartan]

I really think some of you should go back and read your posts again.  Most of them make you sound really bad.  In fact, most of them sound bitter and angry that "slow" runners exist in marathons.

Sit back and realize one thing.  Some people just like to run and they could care less if they go as fast as they can just because they put a number on their chest.

Oh, and relax a bit.   

Thanks,

The guy who purposly runs slower than he can in marathons.

[Ryan]

Hmm, I read the posts again. I don't see any of them that make anyone sound bitter and angry that the "slow" runners exist, just that the non-competitive, non-sporting runners are filling up the sports pages while those who are participating in the sporting aspect don't even get mentioned on the sports pages.

Just imagine if a newspaper ran articles in the sports section on the guy playing for the 30th consecutive year at the local 3-on-3 basketball tournament or or the guy playing at the local 3-on-3 tournament a year after going under the knife for a double bypass surgery but forgetting to cover the local NBA team. Not that the other articles aren't worthy but, in a sports section, shouldn't one expect to see some coverage of the top athletes in the area competing in their sports?

[runnerinwilmnc]

I might not say that some of the posts here are bitter and angry, but I would prefer to not call Mr. Macon an "old coot". This can be taken as an insult, as can "old-fart" and "old-fogey". Wanting to avoid these names might make me seem like I'm a "nicey-nicey," but it's been said that affability does no harm.

Anyway, I think both stories like these as well as stories of runners running fast times can have a place. People can be inspired and/or motivated by seeing people do "big" things, but maybe more when they see people doing "big" things they can see themselves doing. Consider Jaouad Gharib. "'My love for the sport was triggered one day in January 1992 as I watched the live retransmission of the Marrakech Marathon. It was wonderful and I asked myself why I also could not run like these people and one day win this Marathon which is renowned internationally? This was the starting point of my life as an athlete'." ( http://www.iaaf.org/news/athletes/newsid=26572.html ) But I can wonder, would he have been moved in the same way if he was 52 instead of in his early 20s? Maybe a lot of people in their 50s would still be moved to start running by reading about or seeing runners running 2:30 marathons or better, but maybe a few would think something like, "Well, there's no way I could do that" and never begin running. But maybe some would of these who wouldn't run, would run if they saw everyday people running marathons, even if the people they saw ran very slowly compared to elites.

Anyway, maybe in the news world reporters will give stories about unusual things, and maybe this was one of them.

[sueruns]

I really think some of you should go back and read your posts again.  Most of them make you sound really bad.  In fact, most of them sound bitter and angry that "slow" runners exist in marathons.

Sit back and realize one thing.  Some people just like to run and they could care less if they go as fast as they can just because they put a number on their chest.

Oh, and relax a bit.   

Thanks,

The guy who purposly runs slower than he can in marathons.

I'm not bothered by a person's speed.  But honestly, I cringe when I'm in a running forum, or I get an email from a fellow runner that contains a Dean Karnaze quote.  I can't help it, I just do.  I'm inspired by different people for different reasons, people doing things without a goal other than "I can" just don't inspire me.  I understand that the goal is to finish for some, but when you have done that 100x, maybe the bar needs to be set higher.  Do I want to see Michael Jordan dunk a shot in person.  YES!!  I might get tired by the 100th time if he doesn't change it up.  Would I be inspired if I read he dunked 5000 in a row.....what do you think?  Will I be inspired if he dunks one when he's 80?  I'm just not a quantity person.