Boulder – If there is power in numbers, the sport of distance running never has been more formidable. A record 50,816 were registered for the Bolder Boulder on Monday, yet another sign the second running boom continues unabated.
Marathon running is more popular than ever, with more than 400,000 finishers in U.S. marathons in 2006. More than 90,000 entered the lottery for the 2006 New York City Marathon, and the lottery for last month’s London Marathon attracted more than 100,000 entries from the United Kingdom alone.
But it is a strangely anxious time for many in the sport. With healthy participation numbers and glimmers of an American renaissance at the elite level, there is a sense that this moment must be seized, lest a grand opportunity be squandered. This is no time for self-satisfaction.
New York Road Runners president Mary Wittenberg, the most visionary leader in the sport, gave a rousing speech at Running USA’s annual conference in San Diego in February that still has people talking. In a keynote address, Wittenberg preached the need for greater vision and cooperation, with the audacious goal of establishing running as the national pastime. Her dream is for school children to have running as part of their daily curriculum and for elite runners to become as well known as other top professional athletes.
“I truly believe we have the greatest sport in the world,” Wittenberg said in an interview last week. “I think we are in excellent health in many ways, but our greatest risk is that we think this is good enough. I think the potential for our sport is so great that it will be a shame if we continue as we are, doing what we’re doing, satisfied with that.”
Wittenberg believes running is the world’s best sport because it spans a wide spectrum of humanity, from elite athletes striving for international glory to millions of ordinary people running for the sheer joy of it.
“It’s almost like a social movement,” Wittenberg said. “We have the answers to rising health care costs, we have the answers to childhood obesity. It’s that combination of a professional sport and an almost social movement that makes it so compelling to people around the world.”
But there is no unifying force. Mammoth individual events such as the Bolder Boulder make headlines for a few days, then recede from view. Major road races manage their own affairs without coordinating efforts or defining a common message. Is the sport about running for health? Hard-core recreational racers? The elites?
“We’re at a crossroads,” local race promoter Creigh Kelley said. “We have marshalled millions of people and engaged them in this sport, (but) nobody’s quite clear what our sport is. We need to have a single message so our business leaders, our industry leaders and the common population can reach out and touch and be a part of it.
“If we don’t do that, we miss the moment. We continue to be all these wonderful independent events.”
Wittenberg was a driving force in getting USA Track & Field to hold Olympic marathon trials where people actually will see them. Thus the men’s trials will be held in New York, the day before the New York City Marathon, and the women’s trials will be held in Boston the day before the Boston Marathon.
Meanwhile, Running USA is pursuing an initiative called “20 in 10,” the goal being 20 million road racers in 2010. Currently the number is 8-9 million.
“The challenge is that you’ve got 60 million people going to Major League Baseball parks every year, and running has more benefits,” said Basil Honikman, executive director of Running USA. “We don’t sell a hot dog that could give you ptomaine poisoning for $60. We have wonderful stories and wonderful people who could be grabbing the heartstrings of the American public.”
Wittenberg wants everyone who loves this great sport to dream big.
“If we get everybody working together to strive for the day when running is as popular as football in the U.S. and soccer worldwide, and if we strive for the day when every child runs as part of their school day, and we reach for the day when (athletes) make real money in the sport, then we’ll be onto something.”
