Run-Down Forums

[Distance_Guru]

I'm just curious when was the last time a Brit won a major marathon? This could be a case, like Paul Pilkington in LA a few years ago, where it was the end of a drought for British marathoning and for it to happen in the countries most important marathon would add to the buzz.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

I doubt Laroupe is remotely as popular in Britain as Radcliffe is. I was referring to domestic pride, patriotism, or whatever you want to call it.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

I think that you are right on. I mean lets say instead of London it was Boston and instead of Paula R. it was Deena D. Most of the American (or British) viewing public has no idea who any of these runners are. But if you had Deena running away with Boston the way Paula ran away with London the media would be in full support of her forget about the guys. Of coarse I forgot for a moment that KK is American. But any way the media will always focus on the person with the biggest potential fan base and that is almost certainly the athlete from the home nation.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[graeme]

It makes sense that the person with the biggest fan base will get more publicity, but the media does nothing in moderation. For example, when the Canadian women's hockey team won gold at the olympics, the media was all over it, but a few days later the men also won gold and I've barely heard anything about the women's team since. That really is a shame in my opinion, especially since the women had to go through a lot more to get there... all of the men are professionals and have millions of dollars, but some of the women had to quit their jobs, or take loans just so they could make it to the olympics. I don't know if track is the same, but I sometimes think that people focus too much on the relative performances of men and women, rather than what they had to go through to get there.

If you ask me, as far as track and xc go, the men's perfomances draw a larger crowd and they're running faster times. When it comes down to it, people want to see the fastest in the world, so the men do deserve more money .

[Dan]

That's a compelling reason for [i]caring about[/] the performances -- if anything's more fickle than the viewing public, it's the media coverage -- but I have a hard time mixing sport hardship with payoff. After all, "it" is a game that most people play for free... Lots of occupations pay differently, and the difficulty in getting a foot in the door is often more related to one's intellect than their work ethic.

Dan

[Distance_Guru]

I was just on Jogger Digest online and found this article
Runners World It is written by yet another person that doesn't have a problem with title IX but does have a problem with how universities are coming into compliance with title IX.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Dan]

Indeed.

By the way, the author of that article is the wife of U of Oregon's long time women's head coach, Tom Heinonen. Adds an interesting twist of support to the men's problems with Title IX.

Dan

[Micah Ward]

Those were good articles on a thorny issue. The daughter's school is considering dropping the men's running program to the club level. Not too many people happy about that.

[Distance_Guru]

I know as someone that is trying to make a living as a track/cross country coach, the more schools I see droping men's track the less secure I feel about my choice of careers. It is scary to think that someone could make one complaint about gender equity in athletics and your entire program could disapear. I know that this could happen in any line of work but it sure feels a little more realistic when you coach a sport that is expensive, has a large roster of men and is non-revenue generating.
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Time is the fire in which we burn

[Conway]

What is sad to me is that there have been several decent programs that have been lost due to Title IX ... I'm all for supporting women's athletics (I have 3 girls) but not at the expense of men's programs ....

[Justin]

Paula Radcliffe is exceptionally popular in the UK. Not only is she by far our best female athlete - probably our best sportswoman in any sport - she is also a really, really nice person. She's polite, modest and sporting, but also absolutely determined and committed - a real competitor.

Her gutsiness is a major part of the attraction. Millions watched her bloody-minded but failed attempts to win major titles and fell in love with this frail looking, nodding girl who finished every race in a state of collapse, bleeding from spike wounds and covered in her own saliva!

So watching her finally, gloriously fulfill all that potential with that stunning London run was a wonderful moment. She just ran away and away and away, getting stronger and stronger. The whole country was delighted to have a home winner of course, but also full of joy for Paula.

Brits as a whole do cheer mightily for their own, but not usually with any expectation of a win. We actually struggle with single-minded winners sometimes - Linford Christie never approached the popularity of Paula Radcliffe because he was so driven, so touchy.

Justin

[Dan]

[Justin]

And that from a Yank! Tee hee...

[Conway]

Ahhh ... But a Canadian Yank no less ... I thought that waass closer to Brit or French ..

[Dan]

It was actually from a British/Nigerian friend with a French last name, by way of a Canadian Yank...

Dan