Runnerville

Standing in Fenway Park last night watching the Sox and Yanks duke it out reminded me that one of the reasons running pales as a sport in comparison to baseball is, quite simply, a lack of competition.  At least the kind of competition that creates headlines, brings out fans, and gets jerseys buried below the visiting team’s new stadium.  Not since the Johnson-Bailey “rivalry” — and let’s face it, few outside of track circles knew about that — has competition been able to spark a somewhat wider interest in the sport.  The problem with Johnson-Bailey, though, (IMHO) was that many — including myself — simply saw the circus as two huge egos seeing who can stick his chest out further.

Granted, the bulk of the Sox-Yanks rivalry is largely created by the New York and Boston media and the fans who eat it up, but who cares?  People pack out Fenway Park when the Evil Empire rolls into town, and pack out Yankee Stadium when the Sox visit New York.  I had to stand up the whole game because there wasn’t a seat to be had.  Just being inside the park, smelling the smells and hearing the cheers and jeers in person, watching big play after big play, was enough.  The allure of being near the action was romantic in itself.

Maybe it’s because runners are generally nice folks, respecting of each other and the work they put into their training.  The nature of track and field athletes certainly plays a part in the lack of competition that is marketed to the general public.  But the bulk of the blame, once again, falls on the governing bodies.

Let me get all MLK on you now — I have a dream that one day, thousands will pack stadiums to witness attempts at American and World records, historic match-ups, and back-and-forth rivalries.  If we believe that running is as interesting — if not more — than the mainstream sports, then athletes, governing bodies, and watchdog blogs must see that this happens.  I haven’t been to the mountaintop, but I can see it from here …

I believe that children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way…– Whitney Houston, Greatest Love of All

I work part-time at a youth center in my neighborhood. Today, I noticed one of our teens — Fabian, a Hollister-wearing, soccer-loving, girl-chasing teenage boy — looking up Olympics information on the Web. I asked him what he was up to, and he said his teacher had given him an assignment of some kind to gather and report information about various Olympic track & field events, from sprints to middle distance to the marathon. Athletes to watch, records, past results, etc. He didn’t remember all the details of the assignment because he’d forgotten his paper at school, but nevertheless –

I was beaming!

I want to kiss the teacher who gave her students this assignment. The Angel of Track, maybe? I pointed him away from the dead-end site he was looking at and told him to peruse the USATF site for information on the athletes, records, etc. I told him how excited I was that he was doing this project, because track is pretty much the greatest sport in the world. He asked me if I’d help him with his project when he brought his paper back tomorrow, and I answered way too quickly and eagerly. I was like a kid in a candy store.

A few minutes later, I looked over and Fabian was looking up track races on YouTube. I told him to punch in “Michael Johnson” and “1996″, and he was amazed that a human being could run under 10 seconds for the second 100 meters of a 200-meter race. He was hooked.

Whitney might have been right all along. Could it really be that easy?