Run The Day - Add A Run

By Amy Binder

Marathons have joined Christmas, flavored martinis and designer coffees on my list of things that have gone over the top. Whenever anything gets too popular, excessively marketed, ridiculously priced or hyped to the max, I’m out.

According to the latest numbers reported, there are more than 350 marathons held each year around the country. You can run one in Disney World, on the Death Valley Trail, in Colonial Williamsburg and through Napa Valley vineyards. There’s the Little Rock Marathon and quite a few rock ‘n’ roll marathons. There are even ‘last chance’ marathons to give runners a late opportunity to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

If you consider the entire world your playground, you can enter marathons in London, Paris and Rome. You can run them on the Great Wall of China and in locations like Dubai, Antarctica, Easter Island and Reykjavik. There’s also a marathon in Kenya, but don’t expect to win any medals—the home team dominates this event.

The New York Marathon attracts more than 90,000 wannabe runners, but limits its field to 35,000 starters. At more than $100 a pop, this is not only a serious race, it’s a serious moneymaker.

The total economic impact of any major marathon ripples throughout the host city, as direct spending on entry fees is magnified by the indirect spending of runners and their families on hotels, restaurants, transportation, shopping and entertainment.

That explains why the folks who put on the Philadelphia Marathon tried to “kick it up a notch” this year. They want to make it a destination race, attracting runners from afar to run and, while they’re here, spend a few bucks taking in what the city has to offer. Isn’t that what the “Philly's More Fun When You Sleep Over” campaign is all about?

A lot of thought went into the kinds of events and activities that would appeal to this target market throughout the three-day race weekend in November. There were also several different races held that day—the marathon, a marathon relay, a half marathon and an 8k—so there would be something for everyone.

And, judging by the field of runners, everyone was out there in full force. The waves of people just kept coming and coming. It was a little intimidating for those of us manning water stops, with a seemingly unending stream of hands grabbing for drinks—and then an incredible number of cups and energy-gel packets to be scraped off the road.

Just when you thought you were done, more runners would appear. There was less running and more zombie-like trudging at the end, but every finisher earned bragging rights.

If you thought marathons were only for the fleet of feet, you’d be woefully out of touch with reality. At the Philly Marathon, there were people talking on their cell phones as they ran. One rather hefty runner stopped at mile 15 to eat a Boston cream donut because he hadn’t had time for breakfast. Another wore what looked like his prom tuxedo, pastel with tails, complete with cummerbund. Then there was the dynamic duo of Larry the Lighthouse and Wendy the Windmill, finishing in six hours, 16 minutes—well at the back of the pack, but not bad for wearing major structural costumes.

There’s little in this world I want to do for six hours straight, even if it feels good, and running doesn’t make the list.

When it comes to marathons, the only ones that interest me are those that run on TV. I never tire of watching back-to-back episodes of Law & Order. Or the Sci Fi channel.

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Originally published in the News of Delaware County, December 6, 2006. Reprinted with permission.
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