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 …

Happy April Fool’s Day. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we didn’t put together a joke podcast. Is it an indicator of the serious times of our sport? Or just a complete lack of creativity? Tough call. Regardless, we made it to Episode #11. No podfading at Runnerville Weekly!

Are you creative? Have something to say? Call the comment line at 206-888-0346 and record your beef. Or you can email an mp3 file to comments (at) runnerville (dot) com.

In this episode:

Toni Reavis, in response to an African-dominated World XC event, proposes a city-based team system with a full-fledged draft.

Amby Burfoot, also in response to the “crisis” of World XC (or as he calls it, a dual meet between Kenya and Ethiopia), points out the artificial level playing field at the Olympics and World Championships, where only 3 athletes from each country can compete. World XC allows 9. Oops!

Wejo finally hearts Bekele, but isn’t willing to call him the GOAT. He is, however, willing to call him the GOATAXC (Greatest Of All Time At Cross Country).

Chris Lear wonders if world class runners are capable of endorsing anything or representing anybody besides the shoe companies. What do you think? What athletes would be good pitchmen? And what products would you want them to promote? Chris wants to know.

Matt Taylor tries to answer Chris’s question with beer and coffee. Imagine it: Carney and Yuengling. Lukezic and Gaggia Classic. Marketing has changed and running is being left behind…

Contribute to the show. Send your segment via email or call the comment line at 206-888-0346.

[Music is “Mr. Lovely” by Beth Thornley.]

…on Nintendo.

And I’m not impressed.

Konami recently announced a reincarnation of its wildly famous track and field game from the original Nintendo system. The game — called  New International Track and Field* — will be released in North America this summer for the Nintendo DS system, and will feature 15 classic Nintendo characters competing in over 20 standard track events.

I have a couple questions:

1. Will there be a Power Pad?  C’mon … the Pad was Wii 20 years before its time — a workout and entertainment all rolled into one. Nintendo Track & Field without the Power Pad is like Bonnie without Clyde … Bush without Cheney … Bershawn Jackson without headband…

2. Why not use actual track & field athletes? As much as I want to see Frogger break a world record in the javelin throw…  Why weren’t the IAAF or USATF banging down Konami’s door to get its athletes plastered all over this new game?  What if millions of kids could pick up a game with Powell or Wariner’s mugs on the cover in the same way they can with Manning or Wade?  Imagine what that would do for face recognition and new fan creation within the sport of track & field.  Seems like no-brainer marketing to me.

I’m not a video game nut, and I’m sorry, but New International Track & Field for Nintendo DS is certainly not going to make me a convert.

*is this name the best Konami could do?

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?

Corollary Finding: Horses Also Disinclined to Seek Out Brackish, Boring Water With Lots of Unnecessary High School Events, On Their Own.

Fellow inhabitants of Runnerville gave New York Track Fans the ole’ thumbs down on not turning out for Millrose. Reasoning being, in short, that it is partly the fans’ responsibility to support the sport. My purpose is not to get into a chicken-v-egg debate (does a lousy product need to improve to attract support, or does support need to be given to fund improvement of said lousy product), nor to go into as much depth as I could, but I would like to offer an alternative viewpoint, in defense of the non-spectator… Read more…

If you haven’t checked out the feature story on Nike at Forbes.com, do so. Nike provides an interesting case study in choosing leaders who will allow companies and organizations to sell themselves to a broad and diverse audience. That’s exactly what the USATF must do in the wake of CEO Craig Masback’s departure for — who else? — Nike.

Nike decided they needed a “sports guy” (as opposed to a business guy) to take the helm and market to specific sports, not just paste the swoosh everywhere. I believe the USATF needs a “business guy” (or gal) who is not solely concerned about what’s best for the athletes, but wants to market the sport of running to the loads of potential fans out there. One person even suggested hiring the highest-ranking non-future-commissioner of the PGA Tour to come over to the USATF and reproduce its structure (amateur/pro tours) and national exposure. That’s so crazy, it might just work!

A note to the USATF: Please, for the sake of our sport, choose a leader who will think as much about the fans as he/she does about the athletes. Ideally, this would be primarily a business person. If they happen to lace up a pair of running shoes every once in a while, bonus.

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to spreading the gospel of our sport will be the un-ghettoization of the running community. Basically, we’ve created little running ghettos that support a conversation meant only for insiders. If we want people “out there” to realize the beauty of our sport and tune in, we’ve got stop being so proud of the exclusivity of our sport and begin to speak to them about it in a language they can understand.

It’s true, if you think about it. Runners and fans of running tend to be so enthralled with their identification in an elite and secretive sub-culture, that they relegate their conversations to insider Web-based communities and running / track clubs only accessible to, well, insiders. Not to knock these communities at all … they serve a great purpose and are a source of inspiration to many. My point here is not to bash the existence of a running sub-culture or the ensuing conversation, but to encourage a broadening of that conversation in order to increase visibility.  (this phenomenon isn’t exclusive to the running community, of course. every specialized group struggles with this)

Questions: How does the conversation broaden? How does change realistically occur within the machine that is running, and what role does Runnerville play in that? How does Runnerville avoid the pitfall of being another insular venue for the running community to talk to itself?

Well?