03:52 PM CST on Saturday, December 4, 2010
By DEBBIE FETTERMAN / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
As marathon participation soars nationally, the MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon sits well behind such renowned races as those in New York, Chicago and Boston in participation, winners’ finish times and prize money.
Those marathons, with their six- and seven-figure purses and world-class fields, dominate the U.S. marathon scene.
In running circles, Dallas is generally considered a third-tier race, behind the Big Three and a second level of marathons such as the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon.
That’s perfectly fine, White Rock Marathon organizers say as they prepare for Sunday’s race, which will start and end in Fair Park for the first time. Approximately 22,000 runners are expected, including 7,000 for the full 26.2-mile distance – compared with 45,000 at last month’s ING New York City Marathon.
“Our primary focus is putting on a well-run, fun event that enjoys steady, controlled growth, enabling the event to donate more funds to its beneficiary, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children,” said Phil Baker, the marathon’s board chair.
“We enjoy having the elite runners, but that is not our primary focus.”
What the Rock lacks in size, star power or prize money, it more than makes up for with its total race experience, organizers say.
Race director Marcus Grunewald said he considers it his job to produce the best possible race for the first finisher to the last.
“White Rock has always provided a good atmosphere and been managed well, so you knew everything administratively would be right,” said Steve Shopoff, who ran the Rock about 15 times starting in 1979 and served as the director from 1984 to 1986. “It’s a race you can count on.”
A small, competitive group of runners and coaches still believes Dallas could move into the nation’s elite top 10 with a significant infusion of prize money.
“If you invest more money in the race, you attract better runners,” Mexico’s Andrés Espinosa Pérez, a two-time White Rock champion and the 1993 New York City Marathon winner, said through an interpreter. Pérez plans to run the Rock on Sunday for the first time since winning it in 1988 and 1989.
Added Terry Jessup, co-founder and coach of the Dallas Metroplex Striders and a Luke’s Locker employee: “I would much rather see two or three guys run a 2:10, but that’s me. To come up with $20,000 isn’t that hard. There’s billions of dollars floating around Dallas.”
Races such as the Twin Cities offers five figures for their winners, whose finishing times typically range from under 2 hours, 14 minutes for the men to sub-2:27 for the women, said Scott Robinson, elite-athlete coordinator for the Rock.
The White Rock Marathon sits among 25 or 30 other regional races, Robinson said. These races offer about $2,000 to $4,000 to their overall winners and produce top times from 2:15 to 2:20 for the men and sub-2:50 for the women.
The Rock will pay a total of $17,000 in prize money, with the overall winner receiving $3,000. If that runner beats a coed high school relay team, he will receive an extra $1,500.
“The Dallas White Rock Marathon is perceived as a top marathon in the Southwest,” said Robinson, president of the Santa Fe, N.M.-based AmeriKenyan Running Club. “As far as elite competition is concerned, Dallas is lower, midlevel, based on prize money. Because of the history of the event, we have a very solid group of athletes running for a relatively small prize purse.”
Dallas was moving toward the second tier of marathons when the economy tanked and sponsorship dollars became scarce.
Then the unexpected happened.
Race officials reduced their prize money and winning times slowed, yet the event continued to grow.
Participation in Dallas’ marathon, half-marathon and relays has doubled in the past five years, Baker said.
“If you want to grow, you have to reach mainstream America,” said Ryan Lamppa, media director of Running USA, a nonprofit organization for the running industry.
This is something Dallas has strived to do.
The past few years have seen rapid growth in marathons and half-marathons nationally. In 2009, the Rock grew at a higher rate than the national average for the full and half-marathons, Lamppa said.
“That’s impressive considering 2009 was our best year,” Lamppa said. “They’re doing a lot of good things. They obviously have been able to draw more people, and that to me means that the people who are coming are hearing good things and want to check it out. That’s the best form of advertising.”
Race management began looking for a larger venue before the 2009 race in preparation for this year’s move. The board anticipates that major logistical problems such as traffic, parking and a crowded start-finish area will disappear at Fair Park.
Baker said he expects that the race will grow to 25,000 next year. He said the demand is there, based on the endless stream of calls he’s received for entry once races were full. He anticipates the race will reach 30,000 participants within five years.
“It will be more a question of how do we control runner safety and satisfaction and still put on a high-quality event.,” he said. “Where do we lose control? Thirty thousand runners? Thirty-five thousand runners? Where does it all of the sudden become not fun for the runners? That’s what will control our growth.”
Debbie Fetterman is a Dallas-area freelance writer.
dfetterman@dfwrunning.com
MARATHON PARTICIPATION
Where the White Rock Marathon ranked in 2009 participation (for the full 26.2-mile distance):
Race
Finishers
Men’s
winning time
Women’s winning time
1. ING New York City Marathon
43,660
2:09:15
2:28:52
2. Bank of America Chicago Marathon
33,701
2:05:41
2:25:56
3. BAA Boston Marathon
22,343
2:08:42
2:32:16
22. Chevron Houston Marathon
5,348
2:07:52
2:24:18
24. MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon
4,487
2:16:53
2:48:21
SOURCES: Running US; race websites
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: chicago, cities, dallas-white, mexico, race, rock, running, texas, usa, white