Athletics: How To Run and Enjoy the Marathon - Chapter 13. Marathon Time Limits: Race directors' dilemma

(A Practical Guide To The 26.2-Mile Journey) By James Raia
Web site: www.byjamesraia.com  
E-mail: James@ByJamesRaia.com

Runner's Web Editor's Note:
We will be running one chapter of this book on the Runner's Web each week for the next 15 weeks.

Introduction
How to Run & Enjoy The Marathon, a series of 15 self-help and service-oriented articles about running marathons - the proper shoes to running etiquette - is written by James Raia, a journalist and veteran marathon and ultramarathon runner in Sacramento, Calif. A contributor to many newspapers, news services, magazines and internet sites, Raia began to run long distances in 1983, the same year in which he completed his first marathon, the California International Marathon, in 4 hours, 12 minutes and 30 seconds.
How To Run & Enjoy The Marathon is based on the author's more than 20 years of writing about the sport -- its nuances, its elite athletes and the running masses.
Since he began training for his first marathon, running has become an integral component of the author's lifestyle. Raia has completed nearly than 70 marathons and ultramarathons, including several 50 milers and double marathons. His fastest marathon, 3:07:42, was run in 1990. A two-time finisher of the Boston Marathon, Raia for the past several years has completed many of his marathons in the 3:45 range.
Raia, 48, has traveled to more than a dozen countries on assignment for myriad publications, Runner's World to Modern Maturity, The New York Times to USA Today. He also writes syndicated cycling and running columns, publishes two electronic newsletters, Endurance Sports News and Tour de France Times, and is the author of The Tour Within The Tour de France, a travel/sports e-book about the prestigious cycling event. He lives in Sacramento, Calif., with Gretchen Gaither, a teacher and sculptor.

For additional information on his two free newsletters or his other e-book, visit the author's web site, www.byjamesraia.com or contact him via e-mail at RaiaRuns@aol.com.

Table Of Contents
1.Marathon No. 1: It's not all about pain
2. What Marathon? Plentiful choices abound
3. The Basics: Common sense for the masses
4. Marathoning For Dollars: Running is fitness on the cheap
5. Want To Finish: Join the club
6. Fleet Feet: If the shoe fits, wear it
7. Need Motivation? Take a break
8. Now Hear This: Just Say No To Headphones
9. Night Moves: Exercisers Need A Visible Presence
10. Women Marathoners: Running Safe Means Running Smart
11. Running vs. Walking: Marathoners Can Do Both
12. Runner's Creed: Share Thy Space
13. Marathon Time Limits: The race directors' dilemma
14. Marathon No. 1 (Revisited): Don't Forget The Little Things
15. Reference Guide: Where to Find Out More About The Marathon

This Issue - 13. Marathon Time Limits: Race directors' dilemma

Marathon race fields are increasing around the country, but that's not news. The distance's increased popularity, however, is causing difficulties at the back of the pack.

Many newcomers to the sport, particularly those in charity training groups, are incorporating walking into their marathon debuts.

But should anyone be allowed to enter a marathon, even if they require all day to finish? Or, are the time limits many race directors conspicuously detail on application forms reasonable and justified?

The marathon issue received a recent "jolt" when FootNotes, the quarterly publication of the RRCA, published several letters from opinionated writers who generally believe slower runners "cheapen the effect of those who do the marathon in three hours."

One letter writer stated: "They should turn off the clock after five hours and consider the race over."

Hal Higdon, a senior writer for Runner's World and an RRCA founder, adamantly disagrees. In an essay printed in Runner's World Daily, Higdon wrote in part:

" . . . As one of the founders of the RRCA in 1958, I am saddened to see the organization allow such derogatory comments to dominate the publication linking its 700 clubs and 200,000 members. Sniff your upturned noses if you want, but marathoning today owes its popularity to many runners (and run-walkers), who struggle home after five hours."

Both sides of the issue have merit.

Benyo, the long-time co-race director of the Napa Valley Marathon, says:

"Our cutoff time at Napa is 5:30 because that's all the time we can get from the county permits. They want the road opened after that - in large part to accommodate the tasting rooms at the wineries along the route.

"It is at some point going to reach critical mass. One solution would be for runners to organize their own 'events' rather than using running road races as their venue. But that would involve some work, obviously, and it's been a tradition, for walkers, wheelchairs, in-line skaters, bicyclists, and others to piggyback on road races already established."

Chris Lauber, race director of the Florida Gulf Beaches Marathon, disagrees:

"I put all marathoners on a pedestal, regardless of the time they need to complete 26.2 miles," he says. "While I am awed by the more accomplished and faster runners, I still believe and am fascinated by the slower runners and particularly enjoy hearing the stories of the individuals we attract. Former smokers, former drug addicts, massive weight loss, runners who never stopped running since high school, every runner has a store, and I love hearing them all.

"So what does this have to do with the cutoff times? For the Florida Gulf Beaches Marathon, we close the course based on a 7-hour pace, meaning that entrants need to hit certain checkpoints within that pace: midpoint within 3.5 hours, for instance. Entrants slower than that pace are required to move to the sidewalks or the side of the road."

Marathon entrants would also be better served if they remember that marathon race directors are businesspeople. As such, the director have to consider the ramifications of their events, course security costs to safety issues to the the generosity of their volunteers' time.

Therefore, if a marathon is advertised with a 5:30 time limit, it's for a reason. The race director or race committee has decided a time limit is important and it's their decision to make.

The individual runner should enter a race knowing the event's rules and restrictions and he or she should be willing to abide by them.

© Copyright 2003, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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