The Fan’s Perspective on the USA Olympic Women’s Trials Marathon
Posted April 20th, 2008 at 6:15 PM by Jesse Squire
Section: News & Results, Marathons, SoundOFF, Columns
I’m a new contributor to The Final Sprint. Most of my writing has been at my blog under the moniker of “The Track & Field Superfan”, and that’s the perspective I’ll bring to TFS Media Network. So here are my thoughts on this morning’s Trials race…
#1. Put It On (Live) TV
I’m part of a relatively narrow age group that always saw marathons on TV. Not just the races in the Olympics and the Olympic Trials, but also ABC’s annual live coverage of the New York City race. I’d have to say it had a great influence on who I became; seeing thousands of people run through the streets of New York made distance running seem right at home in the gritty urban environment where I grew up. And for years, whenever it was a cool rainy day and I was running in the local city park, I imagined I was Rod Dixon chasing down Greg Meyer. In fact, I have to admit I still do that.
There are thousands of young American girls who could have been inspired by today’s race, and likewise pretended to be Deena Kastor chasing down an imaginary Magdalena Lewy-Boulet…if only they had seen it on television.
How difficult would it have been to broadcast the race on NBC? My knowledge of TV is pretty much limited to watching it, but I do know that the on-air talent was the same crew that will call the Olympic marathons in Beijing, and NBC made use of many cameras. They definitely spent some money. If the network decision-makers did not see fit to pre-empt Meet The Press or other talking-head shows, there’s still CNBC or Bravo. Based on how woefully they underestimated the attention the men’s Trials race was going to get, I’d have to guess today’s race would have scored unusually high ratings for either of those cable channels.
#2. Olympic Trials Races Are Better Than Most Races
I don’t mean in terms of competitiveness or a guaranteed fight to the finish; in a marathon, nothing is guaranteed. What I mean is that there are multiple races within one race, and it’s unusual for neither to be competitive.
At one point today, first place looked sewn up and third place was a battle. Then third place wasn’t a battle anymore but first place was. Furthermore, if there’s a local favorite, that athlete is yet another race to watch. I was cheering for Ann Alyanak because she’s from my part of the country, and while I knew she didn’t have much of a chance to make the Olympic team it was fun to see her battle back into the top seven after having been dropped from the lead pack. Which brings me to my next point…
#3. Open Up The Race
It is pretty tough to make the Olympic Trials for track & field. For most events only the top 30 or so athletes in each event will get to compete. Not so in the road events; today’s race had over 150 qualifiers. A good friend of mine has suggested that the marathon trials could be opened up to even larger numbers of qualifiers, maybe 500 or so (provided the course could handle it). Runners slower than the current qualifying times might be required to pay an entry fee (but who would balk at that?).
His reasoning is that this approach could greatly raise the profile of marathoning because so many more localities would have a runner competing, and local media would have something to report on or even follow for months leading up to the race.
#4. This Trials-Then-Major Idea Works Well
All the media is in town for the major, and they follow the Trials, or maybe it’s the other way around. In any case the crowds are big and the coverage is good. More than that, it addresses a frustration often aired by Runnerville’s Tony Reavis: If there are millions of road runners in the US, why are there so few fans of road running?
One simple response is that they simply can’t see the races because they’re busy running a race (and not in the lead pack). Yesterday morning I chatted with a fairly average guy sporting a 2007 NYC Marathon jacket who just raved about getting to see the Trials race in Central Park the day before he ran.
In contrast, a heck of a lot of avid golfers are golf fans. Is it any coincidence that the pro tours do their pro-am events on the days leading up to the pro events? Road running could learn a lesson here.
For more news, analysis, interviews, videos, and results from the 2008 Boston Marathon and USA Olympic Women’s Marathon Trials, please visit: http://boston.thefinalsprint.com/
In addition, check out the official blog of women’s marathon favorite Kate O’Neill at: http://kateoneill.thefinalsprint.com/
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Tags: 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s marathon trials, 2008 USA Olympic women’s marathon trials, Beijing, blake russell, deena kastor, entry list, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, marathon, marathonguide.com, Olympic Trials, Olympicwomensmarathontrials2008, Olympicwomensmarathontrials2008news, US Olympic Trials, usa Olympic team trials – women’s marathon
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