Runnerville

INDIANAPOLIS - The USA Track & Field Board of Directors on Thursday approved top sports executive Doug Logan, the former Commissioner, President and CEO of Major League Soccer, as its next CEO. A bilingual sports and entertainment leader with a proven track record of generating long-term sponsor partnerships, television outreach and high fan attendance, Logan and MLS in 1996 were named Sports Industrialist of the Year by Sports Business Daily. Read more…

The remainder of the 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials could well be hard pressed to match the spirit of the of Day One in Eugene. After a 28-year absence, the sport’s premier national meet returned to the hallowed grounds of Hayward Field on the university of Oregon campus under glorious blue skies and an array of fluttering American flags. A record 20,964 track-hungry fans spilled out of the gussied up grand dame of American tracks, carrying 10th grader Laura Roesler of North Dakota down the homestretch and into the semifinals of the women’s 800 meters. Pretty in pink (singlet), the Fargo prep notched a 2:04.03 fourth place finish in heat one to stir the crowd for the first of what promises to be many times over the next nine days. Read more…

Track visionaries have been saying it for years: the sport of track & field is stale and requires massive change to elevate its status to that of other professional sports. Those who voiced such opinions, pleading for change, ran up against brick walls. Then proceeded to bang their heads against said brick walls. Years of banging resulted in severe apathy - track is track; it is what it is. Except among a select few who kept the movement alive and inspired the next generation. So here we are today, witnessing a perfect storm of BALCO, the internet, world-class U.S. performances, a second running boom, and the chronic underperformance of our governing bodies. Finally someone has taken notice.

In a stern letter from Jim Scherr, USOC chief executive, to Bill Roe, USATF President and our guest on The Toni & Matt Show #13, track’s governing body was given an ultimatum: change your structure or else risk sanctions and possible decertification. USATF has until June 24 to submit a plan. If the USOC chooses decertification, it will actually take over USATF until a new federation can be formed. Although rare, it has happened in modern pentathlon, team handball, and taekwondo. (click “read full article” for the rest of this story) Read more…

I don’t normally read ESPN Magazine, in fact I detest ESPN for only covering the drug aspect of our sport, but I found myself reading it as I waited at the local Jiffy Lube for my car to get an oil change. On the cover was the face of Kimbo Slice, the newest MMA star. The article went into depth on Slice’s life and how he’s become such a big star in the sport despite accomplishing so little.

While the article was entertaining, it also got me thinking that one of the reasons MMA has become so big is because UFC and the other organizations in the sport have done a phenomenal job at putting a face on their sport.

In the article the author stated, “Truth is, a star and some buzz are good for any sport; MMA should welcome Kimbo’s charisma, personality and ability to attract the uninitiated.” What Kimbo seems to be doing is a smaller version of what Lance Armstrong did for cycling and what Tiger Woods has done for golf. Those sports found their one poster boy, the one guy who could take their sport to the next level in terms of popularity and marketed that person to the extreme.

I truly believe every sport has a Lance Armstrong or Tiger Woods. That one person that has a story, shares their personality with the world a bit and comes out on top 9 times out of ten. But who are the athletes in our sport that have that charisma and personality, who win a bunch and can attract both old and new fans alike? I’d love to hear all of your thoughts on this.

Credit where credit is due: USATF catches a lot of flack on here for its laissez faire event promotion and uninspired website (multimedia-free since 1993!) but they’ve really got a great thing going on with their Pick ‘N Win game.  So much so that the IAAF is now launching one as well. Read more…

Two of my favorite things are video games and running. (There, I said it.) Actually, that’s not entirely true; sometimes I loathe running and, despite a recent attempt to re-ignite my love affair with the gaming world, I haven’t played video games “seriously” since college. But boy did I have an obsession for both a decade ago. True story: in college I developed tendentious in both thumbs from playing video games. I had to wear splints. But the rewards were well worth the consequences - I beat Mike Tyson, I completed GoldenEye 007 on all three levels in two weeks, I ran Bo Jackson for 894 yards in one game of Tecmo Bowl, and I absolutely killed it on Parappa the Rappa. My running accomplishments weren’t as exceptional nor rewarding, but as a sub-9:00 steeplechaser I wasn’t a slouch. So it was with both lust and dismay that I read Nintendo’s announcement of the Wii Fit. Read more…

Alison Wade recently published a cookbook, the proceeds of which go to two Foundations dear to many a runner’s heart. In her own words:

The most important part of this project is that it is a fundraising cookbook for the Jenny Crain “Make It Happen” Fund and the Ryan Shay
Memorial Fund. The proceeds from sales of the book will be split evenly between the two funds. The book contains 100 recipes from 90+ world
class distance runners. The athletes–including Deena Kastor, Alan Webb, Sebastian Coe, Ryan and Sara Hall, Adam and Kara Goucher, Joan Benoit
Samuelson, Catherine Ndereba, Hendrick Ramaala, and many more–did a fantastic job with their submissions. Many of them also included notes
about why the recipes they submitted are special to them, how they use them as part of their recovery, and so on. The cookbook costs $14.95,
plus shipping.

You can learn more about the cookbook here, or order directly from here.

Toni Reavis, perhaps it’s better that you not read any further.

Those of you who have read my embarrassment of a bio know that I am a native of the great state of Cincinnati. As such, it was with a keen ear that I followed the recent coverage of Cincinnati’s Flying Pig Marathon, called one of America’s “10 Most Enjoyable Marathons” by Runner’s World back in 2005.

You should know we’re in trouble right there.

Pardon my ignorance, but when did the marathon become “enjoyable”? I am among the uninitiated, so maybe when I finally get out there, I will discover the marathon is like a three hour episode of How I Met Your Mother: soft edges, plenty of chuckles and warm feelings all around. Such is the tack taken with Cincinnati’s marathon, and, I suppose, at least they are up front about it. The name says it all: novelty marathon. Read more…

In last week’s Runnerville Weekly podcast, Matt Taylor discussed his conversation with Chris Lukezic about the lack of interest sponsors seem to have about getting their athletes out in the public eye.  Chris told Matt that if asked to do a public promotion he would gladly do it.  The conversation carried on to conclude that if Chris went out and met 100-200 new people, that the interaction with those people would create 100-200 new fans of Chris, as they would have a personal connection with him since they interacted with him.

While this sounds great, there is one piece missing from this puzzle.  Once Chris has 100-200 new fans, where does he send them to follow his racing?  Luckily for Chris he has a blog that he can send people to, where he provides commentary on his training and racing.  However, for the majority of professional athletes, blogging is not an interest they have or their sponsors have.  So where do fans get their news?

For the majority of die-hard fans out there, including me, we know where to look to find our running news.  We check LetsRun, FloTrack, EliteRunning, etc. on an obsessive basis to see if there just might be a piece of news we missed after rolling out of bed and turning on the computer in the morning.  However, do new fans know where to go to find professional running news? Read more…