ROAD REVISIONS
PACED OR NOT, ROAD RACING NEEDS A MAKEOVER, SAYS TIM HUTCHINGS
PICTURES: MARK SHEARMAN & VICTAH SAILER
YOU CAN surely hardly have failed to notice, unless you exist in blinkered, ignorant bliss in terms of a major branch of our sport – the autumn marathon season is in full swing, with 26.2-mile races like Berlin, Chicago, Amsterdam, Toronto, Frankfurt, Cape Town, Cologne, New York and Fukuoka, just to name a few of the monstrous global gatherings, each providing a massive payday to numerous elite athletes, a precious fund-raising opportunity for thousands of charities, and a unique chance to be proud for tens of thousands of sub-elite runners, joggers and even walkers. In short, marathons improve lives, millions of them.
While not solely responsible, the elite athletes are often a major factor as to why there is any TV coverage. It’s their astonishing fitness, world-class racing prowess and sheer guts under pressure that make riveting viewing one weekend after another. Their battles for supremacy are entertaining – show business in fact – and it’s elite sport, one we can all relate to, at least to some degree, and that is what justifies the TV spend and enables the sponsorship dollars to pour in to the event. Sponsor access to an audience or even the database of tens of thousands of targeted ABC consumers doesn’t hurt either, naturally.