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for the elite now outstrips that for
all but the best track athletes. Big
wins can be worth $100,000.
Five of the world’s biggest
marathons - Boston, London, Berlin,
Chicago and New York (in their
calendar order) – have formed
themselves into an ad-hoc
organisation, called the World
Marathon Majors. Over a two-year
period, athletes running in these
events can amass points to win
$500,000 each for the overall men’s
and women’s winners.
Klappert sees this latest
development as an opportunity for
IAAF. “Co-operation is the key, and I
believe it is possible. It’s one of our
tasks to promote the sport. In turn,
people have to respect that the IAAF
is the body that sets the
regulations. The IAAF can add
prestige to even the biggest races”.
Mary Wittenberg, race director of
the ING New York City Marathon
points out their group’s appeal. “We
have a combined entry of 300,000
participants, and that’s very
attractive to sponsors”. Despite
huge numbers of participants not
many of these newcomers join an
athletics club, the traditional route
towards achieving higher levels of
performance. Wittenberg agrees.
She sees local race organisation as
the equivalent of a club system,
extending the New York Road
Runners’ reach beyond Central Park,
around the Metropolitan area. “We
believe in the club system, in club
races. The idea of club running
really helps our sport. We need to
get our star runners to stay out
there, meeting the masses, signing
autographs, inspiring everyone
else”.
Dave Bedford, race director of the
Flora London Marathon, sees it a
little differently: “The world has
changed, the club system isn’t as
strong. What you do get is hundreds
and thousands of people talking
online, swapping experiences,
getting advice. A virtual club, if you
like”.
East African runners’ increasing
domination of long distance is seen
as one reason for an alarming
decline in elite running in other
countries. Even stars like Tergat and
Haile Gebrselassie recognise there
is a problem, “The world has lost
interest in long distance races,
because they are regarded as
competition between Ethiopian and
Kenyan athletes” said Tergat.
Bedford’s answer is to exercise more
control. “We need the right kind of
balance. Where the invitation races
have an advantage over the
championships is we don’t have to
be an African Championship. We
can limit their involvement, in order
to nurture our own runners”.
Wittenberg says, “We need to
personalise the winners. Paul Tergat
came to the New York stock
exchange, and he impressed
everybody. And Jelena Prokupcuka
(of Latvia, who won the New York
women’s race), she’s so cute, we
paid for her to have English lessons.
There are many more great athletes
than promotional spots in our
marathons. Someone who comes
across well is highly sought after”.
But the USA is also one of the few
countries to have set up a system
(of elite training camps) to attempt
to counter African dominance. Two
Olympic medals in the marathon
suggests it could be working.
Wittenberg says that New York
wants to contribute to that, even if
they were late starters in the charity
stakes. “We never used to have a
charity programme, but last year, we
raised a million dollars for a public
schools programme that introduces
youngsters to running”.
IAAF road running competitions
have suffered several false starts.
The World Cup marathon, World
Ekiden Championships, and World
Half-Marathon Championships were
all abandoned. To replace them the
World Road Running
Championships will be held for the
first time in Hungary on 8 October.
Klappert says, “We chose a different
name, because we want to integrate
the championships into existing
events but we need to sort out the
problems of conflicting sponsors,
etc”.
The partnership between the World
Marathon Majors and the IAAF, says
Klappert, “is the beginning of
structuring the sport better. This is
the first tier, but we need a second
tier, then a third. And we also need
promotion and relegation, otherwise
the idea won’t stay alive.”
Pat Butcher is athletics
correspondent for the Financial Times
and author of The Perfect Distance:
Ovett & Coe - The Record Breaking
Rivalry (Phoenix Sport)
A longer version of this article first
appeared in the IAAF Magazine,
issue 1, 2006
DISTANCE RUNNING July – September 2006
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