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Jan-9-2006
New york Submits Marathon Trials Bid
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW YORK (09-Jan) -- The New York Road Runners released the details of their
2008 Olympic Trials - Men's Marathon bid here today, opting for a separate
men-only event to be held two days in advance of the 2007 ING New York City
Marathon. If their bid is accepted, it would be the first time that an
Olympic Trials Marathon was held in New York City.
The United States is the only country to hold binding Olympic team trials
for the marathon, giving the top-3 finishers provisional berths on the
Olympic team. (Full team status is conferred after any IAAF qualifying
standards are met.) The men's and women's Trials races are usually held in
separate cities on separate dates, and almost always in the spring.
However, the Road Runners see many positives for a fall Trials, proposed for
Nov. 2.
"November has some unique advantages," Said Mary Wittenberg, president and
chief executive officer of the Road Runners, who would also be the race
director for the event.
Wittenberg cited the publicity which would be generated by having the men's
Trials held in conjunction with the ING New York City Marathon, the world's
largest marathon, which draws the biggest media corps of any road race. The
race already has a television deal with WNBC for live coverage in the New
York Tri-State area, and with NBC for same-day taped coverage nationally, so
robust television production assets would already be in place.
She also contended that the date had great advantages for athletes,
including the option for runners who achieve quality times at 5000m and
10,000m to do the Trials after their track seasons. In previous years,
runners had to complete a full marathon within a qualifying period and run
at least a certain time. For the previous two Trials for men, that time was
2:22:00. Being allowed to qualify with track times may mean that younger
athletes could make their marathon debuts during the Trials, which could
lend additional excitement to the race. They would be less likely to do
that in the spring when they are focused on preparing for the track Trials,
and committing to a marathon would be too risky.
"With track qualifiers, men may give it a try," asserted Wittenberg who also
said that completing the Trials marathon some nine months before the Beijing
Olympics would allow athletes to fully recover from the Trials race, then
train up to an even higher level in the summer. In 2000 the men's Trials
was held in early May, which some said was too close to the Sydney Olympic
Games in September.
The Road Runners proposed that instead of using the traditional
point-to-point course of the ING New York City Marathon, they would use a
criterium course in Central Park where the marathon finishes. Athletes would
essentially run the U.S. 8-K Championships course --used from 2002 through
2004-- five times, plus a bit of extra distance at the beginning to make the
full 42.195 km. That loop, as Kenyan Patrick Ivuti pointed out when he
raced in New York City last year, "is always moving." It doesn't have any
severe hills (the hilliest section of the park at the north end is bypassed)
but there are very few sustained flat sections.
Other cities interested in hosting the Trials include Akron, Ohio;
Minneapolis, Minn.; and Boston, Mass. Akron and Boston would take either
the men's or women's Trials, while Minneapolis is only bidding for the
women's Trials.
According to Elizabeth Phillips, USATF Women's Long Distance Running
Committee chair, a decision on which venues will be awarded the Trials will
come in "early April" of next year.
The New York Road Runners are only seeking to host the men's race out of
practicality. "We'd love to host both, but it's cost prohibitive," said
Wittenberg. The total cost of the New York bid is $664,500 including a
prize money purse of $250,000. The other big items are signage and banners
($90,000, including installation), athlete lodging ($64,000), the USATF
rights fee ($50,000) and athlete hospitality ($45,000). However, the bid
doesn't include the direct cost of New York Road Runners 60 full-time
employees nearly all of whom would be putting in effort towards the Trials.
While not able to speak directly on the merits of the bid --it needs to be
evaluated first by the USATF Men's Long Distance Running Committee-- USATF
chief executive officer, Craig Masback, was very appreciative of the
interest shown by the Road Runners in hosting the race.
"There is no question that New York City is the greatest running city in the
world," said Masback perhaps playing a bit to the audience, the New York
Track Writers weekly luncheon. But he pointed out that besides holding the
world's largest marathon, New York is also the home of the New Balance
Armory Track & Field Center, one of the most active indoor tracks in the
country (22 meets have already been held there this season with some 54,000
athletes), the Millrose Games (the oldest continuously contested track meet
in the country), and now the Reebok Grand Prix, an outdoor track meet at the
newly constructed Ichan Stadium. Also, the New York Road Runners hold road
races nearly every weekend.
"Now is the time to put our very best men on the greatest stage in the
world," Wittenberg summarized, pointing out the rich sports history of the
city and her organization's competence in staging big-time events. "This is
our full-time job and focus, to put on events like this."
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