Interesting piece in today's Wall Street Journal about attempts to bring the Rock 'n' Roll franchise to New York City and the resistance the Competitor Group's encountered to host a Bronx-only route in the spring.
Is One New York Marathon Enough?
When I ran the New York City Marathon years ago, there was a record crowd of 32,000. Now it's 45,000. And I think I paid $60, compared to up to $250 today. Plus, if you ran at least a half marathon under a certain time, you got in as long as there were still slots, and for no additional cost. Now, you have to pay $11 just to get lucky. A lot has changed.
San Diego has the same problem with neighborhoods that go before the city council each year demanding the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon be rerouted away from them. In addition to traffic hassles, runners tend to generate more trash and noise than you might think. They also spend a lot of money on themselves that ends up being a huge boon to local businesses.
Personally, I'm suspicious of the NYRR's argument that having another marathon (that's run entirely within the most neglected borough along the NYC Marathon route) will somehow diminish the star power of their major money-maker. What about you?
6 comments:
Anytime a business starts fighting competition, their business plan is broken. Hard to believe a second marathon in the spring would affect the NYM in any way.
People who want to run the NYC Marathon aren't going to change their mind and sign up for a RnR instead; however, people who can't get into NYC will still have a second chance. I think it's a great idea.
I wonder if Competitor was sorta resting on it's laurels on this one and, instead of lobbying for and promoting themselves with the city planners. I mean, if they were surprised, they shouldn't have been. Those kinds of decisions are typically made far before they become public.
I like the idea. I suspect that Competitor will be back.
In my opinion. If you add two NY marathons you will saturate the market. The magic of the NY marathon will be diluted.
Kevin
http://halftriing.blogspot.com/
Econ 101. If there's a real profit to be made, then competition will appear. I don't think that another marathon is the issue. The issue for the Compeitor Group is how to control that other marathon too. Way too many $s to be mae.
Where did all these marathoners come from?
Wow, it's $250 to do the NYC Marathon? That's crazy!! Around here, lately, I've started to not want to run any races if they are over $30, unless it's for the Tufts 10K, which I always expect to cost more.
I can imagine the trash we runners generate, especially for the longer races. I've seen what the streets of Boston look like! And for even smaller races than the marathon! It's disgusting!!
Personally, I think NY is big enough that it could handle having more than one marathon.
Post a Comment