2010 New York Marathon lottery

They opened it up today.  Sign up before they close it in March!

Why Mary Wittenberg is the best race director in the world

Over the last few days, there has been lots of buzz about a controversial New York Times article regarding plodders in the marathon.  This article was widely circulated and generated a lot of letters to the editor.

I will post the article below then the response of Mary Wittenberg, head of New York Road Runners and race director of the ING New York Marathon.

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October 23, 2009

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

 

By JULIET MACUR

 

Every weekend during this fall marathon season, long after most runners have completed the 26.2-mile course — and very likely after many have showered, changed and headed for a meal — a group of stragglers crosses the finish line.

Many of those slower runners, claiming that late is better than never, receive a finisher’s medal just like every other participant. Having traversed the same route as the fleeter-footed runners — perhaps in twice the amount of time — they get to call themselves marathoners.

And it’s driving some hard-core runners crazy.

“It’s a joke to run a marathon by walking every other mile or by finishing in six, seven, eight hours,” said Adrienne Wald, 54, the women’s cross-country coach at the College of New Rochelle, who ran her first marathon in 1984. “It used to be that running a marathon was worth something — there used to be a pride saying that you ran a marathon, but not anymore. Now it’s, ‘How low is the bar?’ ”

Tens of thousands of runners are training for marathons this time of year. As the fields continue to grow — primarily by adding slower runners — so has the intensity of the debate over how quickly an able-bodied runner should finish the once-elite event that is now an activity for the masses.

Purists believe that running a marathon should be just that — running the entire course at a relatively fast clip. They point out that a six-hour marathoner is simply participating in the event, not racing in it. Slow runners have disrespected the distance, they say, and have ruined the marathon’s mystique.

Slower marathoners believe that covering the 26.2 miles is the crux of the accomplishment, no matter the pace. They say that marathons inspire people to get off their couches, if only to cross off an item on the Things to Do Before I Die list. And besides, slow runners are what drive the marathon business, they say.

John Bingham, a runner who is known as the Penguin, is often credited with starting the slow-running movement, in the 1990s. “I have had people say that I’ve ruined the sport of running, but what I’ve been trying to do is promote the activity of running to an entire generation of people,” he said. “What’s wrong with that?”

Bingham added: “The complainers are just a bunch of ornery, grumpy people who want the marathon all to themselves and don’t want the slower runners. But too bad. The sport is fueled and funded by people like me.”

Trends show that marathon finishers are getting slower and slower — and more prevalent — according to Running USA, a nonprofit organization that tracks trends in distance running. From 1980 to 2008, the number of marathon finishers in the United States increased to 425,000 from 143,000.

In 1980, the median finishing time for male runners in United States marathons was 3 hours 32 minutes 17 seconds, a pace of about eight minutes per mile. In 2008, the median finishing time was 4:16, a pace of 9:46. For women, that time in 1980 was 4:03:39. Last year, it was 4:43:32.

In a debate on the Web site slowtwitch.com, someone posting as Record10 Carbon wrote that more than half of the people at a marathon are just overweight and “trying to get a shirt and medal … looking to one day tell a story about the saga and the suffering of their 11 minute pace ‘race.’ ”

In response, someone wrote: “Being a participant isn’t bad. Yes, there should be a cutoff on some events. But, what that cutoff is can be a raging debate.”

Race directors often struggle to find the right cut-off time, when water stations are closed, roads open to vehicles and volunteers abandon the course. Some directors, however, avoid that problem.

Runners in the Honolulu Marathon have no limits. Race rules state, “All runners will be permitted to finish, regardless of their time.”

Last year, 44 percent of the field for that event finished in more than six hours — with some marathoners stopping for lunch along the course.

“For every race director, there’s a very fine line between putting on a community event and putting on a race,” said Chris Burch, race director for the Des Moines Marathon, which stays open for seven hours. Last year, it stayed open for eight hours, but Burch found that only 4 percent of the participants needed more than seven hours to finish. In the end, that extra hour was not worth it, he said, because of the costs of keeping the course open.

“It is a huge budget item because you have to pay municipal services, like police, fire or trash, and volunteers have to stay longer,” he said. “But it’s not a simple decision. Those back-of-the-pack runners are income for the event, too, and they’re just as important for everyone. There’s a feeling of ‘I paid as much money as the other people to enter, so I should be treated the same.’ ”

At the Marine Corps Marathon, in the Washington, D.C., area, runners must keep a pace of 14 minutes per mile or risk being booted from the event near the 20-mile mark. A bus looms there, waiting to pick up those who fail to cross the 14th Street Bridge before it reopens to traffic. Those who choose to continue on the open course do so at their own risk, taking to the sidewalks or dodging traffic.

At the Berlin Marathon, where the cut-off time is 6:15, the “slow police” are notorious for lurking at the back of the pack. “If runners aren’t able to finish in the time we put in our information book, we ask them to leave the course and find their way to their hotel, or get in the bus,” the race director Mark Milde said.

The New York City Marathon, scheduled for Nov. 1, will have a field of about 40,000. Last year, about 21 percent of the field finished in more than five hours. The race officially ends after 6:30, though runners are scored through 8:40, when the timing system is finally carted off, said the race director Mary Wittenberg.

Longtime marathoners like Julia Given, a 46-year-old marketing director from Charlottesville, Va., still find ways to differentiate the “serious runners” from those at the back of the pack.

“If you’re wearing a marathon T-shirt, that doesn’t mean much anymore,” Given said on the eve of this month’s Baltimore Marathon, where vendors were selling products that celebrate slower runners. One sticker said: “I’m slow. I know. Get over it.”

“I always ask those people, ‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it,’ ” said Given, who finished the Baltimore race in 4:05:52. “The mystique of the marathon still exists. It’s the mystique of the fast marathon.”

 

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Mary Wittenberg’s letter to the editor:

A Marathon, Not a Sprint

To the Sports Editor:

Re “Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?” Oct. 23: We at New York Road Runners stress the strenuous, demanding nature of the marathon. We don’t say that it’s for everyone. We conduct more than 50 events a year — from the mile to the marathon — and hold beginner clinics and classes.

We promote the marathon as the Mount Everest of running. In other words, the ultimate goal. One that takes careful and rigorous preparation. But we specifically don’t say, “You’ve got to be fast to do it.”

We don’t encourage people to walk the marathon or to take eight hours to complete it. It is a running event, after all. But it is 26.2 miles — a huge challenge, no matter how fast you are.

You need to walk a little? Then walk a little. Do what it takes to accomplish the goal of finishing, and be smart about it, too.

A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time.

Mary R. Wittenberg

New York

The writer is the chief executive of New York Road Runners and the race director of the New York City Marathon.

 

10 months, 928.4 miles

At the end of October, I have so far run 928.4 miles this year.  At the start of the year, I had an “A” and a “B” goal for mileage.   My “A” goal was 1,200 miles for the year while my “B” goal was 1,000 miles for the year.  Realistically, I will only have 45 days of running left for the year because I am going on vacation in the last two weeks of December and it will be difficult to do any running because of my busy itinerary.  I am very confident that I will achieve the “B” goal since it is only about 72 miles in 45 days.  This is less than 2 miles per day.

However, the “A” goal of 272 miles in 45 days is going to be difficult.  That is about a 10K per day which is unrealistic at this point given the workaholic schedule.

3rd Post Marathon Recovery Run

Well, my 3rd post marathon recovery run 5K was slower than the 2nd one.  Time was 31:05 in a glorious Friday evening with 78 degrees weather.  they rarely have moderate days like these in Ohio.

There is a marathon and half marathon 3 hours away in Indianapolis next week.  I would have liked to join but it is on a Saturday and there will be no time to pick up my gear at the expo.  Next race is tentatively set on November 26 for the Thanksgiving Trot in Upper Arlington, Ohio.  I ran this 5 mile race in about 48+ minutes last year.  I want to complete it in 47 minutes or so this year.  It is going to be a cold one.

2nd Post Marathon Recovery Run

I did an easy 5K on the treadmill yesterday in 30:43, about 1:52 faster than my first post marathon recovery run.  I am trying to get into 26-27 minute shape for the 5K before going on vacation in December.

I was also attempting to do runningdatcom’s modified Bruce protocol stress test on the treadmill only to find out that the highest grade in the gym’s treadmill is 15.0%.  I am still trying to figure out how to do the modified Bruce protocol stress test with these limitations.

Post Marathon Recovery Run

I was up at 7:00 am on Sunday morning for my first post-marathon recovery run. It was a cool but sunny 39 degrees Fahrenheit. Beautiful fall colors were all around the trail but so were fallen leaves littered around. I walked for the first 0.4 miles then ran a relaxed 3.1 miles in 32:35 with a final cool down walk of 0.5 miles. More pictures of the autumn leaves to come.

2010 Marathons

Since the 2009 Marathon season is over for me, I am now looking forward to next year. In 2009, I ran three marathons: San Francisco (painful struggle), Chicago (decent first time in a major), and Columbus (PR by 2:26). In 2010, I would like to run four marathons. Tentatively, I have three that I will likely do:

1. Cleveland Marathon – May 16, 2010

2. Columbus Marathon – October 17, 2010

3. Marine Corps Marathon (already pre-registered thanks to the SF Marathon) – October 31, 2010

I would like to run a fourth marathon but have not yet decided. Of course, if I get in the New York Marathon lottery, then that will definitely be my fourth marathon even if it is the week after Marine Corps.

Perhaps there are other Spring or Summer marathons. The difficulty with a second Spring marathon is that the cold Ohio winter does not really end until late March so training will be difficult for two. Seattle Marathon in June 26 would be a good candidate but I have two weddings to attend to a few weeks before and I will likely have lots of work around that time. Reykjavik Marathon in August would be an adventure. The Philadelphia Marathon in late November or the Honolulu Marathon in December are also alternatives. Any suggestions for a fourth marathon are greatly appreciated.

Didn’t I predict this months ago?

Lance Armstrong apparently committed to the 2011 Ironman Triathlon championship at Kona.

Nike Human Race 10K DNR

I registered for the Nike Human Race 10K to get the nice red shirt.  I got the shirt yesterday.  But it was raining hard today and I decided not to run the 2 laps around Ohio State University at 8 pm on Friday.  First DNR race.

Runner deaths at Detroit Marathon

3 runners died tragically in yesterday’s Detroit Marathon.