It is highly challenging to do so Joe. In some ways having two categories can be like organizing two races. Unless you have the time to stage completely separate heats (I was able to do this when I directed MagMile), people get intermingled and it works no better.

Also, the controversial point becomes who is competitive and who is non-competitive. To some people, even if they do a 20 minute mile, they want to be in the competitive division and will register that way, which can create issues as we’ve heard.

My need personally as NC rep is to put together a slate of competitive athletic events and I feel like I’ve got a great slate. We will definitely work to insure that people that just want to come out and participate have the opportunity to do that without compromising the competition, but the emphasis and organization of the races is definitely going to be on the competitive athletic event aspect. We’d love to see those participants of 2010 become competitive racers in 2011 – there’s great fun in racing.

I don’t have any silver bullet here to tell you the truth Joe. I think we’ll be struggling with this for a while. I hope to see a re-emergence of emphasis on competitive athletic events to balance out the trend of all events to become participation oriented. There is definitely enough market for both.

It is a valid point, Mike. Would it be feasible to start dividing races into competitive and non-competitive categories?

Over the last couple of weeks since I posted, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the beliefs that are held by people like Rene de la Varre. And as I’ve thought more, to be fair I don’t think their beliefs are completely without validity.

So, before anyone blasts me, I just want to say that I acknowledge that both sides of this debate have great validity.

What Rene de la Varre describes is certainly the downside of the popularity expansion of running. As NC rep for RRCA every day I see the competitive athletic concept aspect of our sport (and it is indeed a sport) being pushed further and further into the background, and our events do indeed become increasingly a moving party. I can understand how people who have been with the sport for years see this as a negative.

There is certainly some element of cache that is now being lost (imagine if Harvard let in anyone – Harvard wouldn’t have the same cache in 10 years), but I think it is more the material changes we see in the running scene that trouble established runners. And loss of the competitive element, the sometimes obstructive aspects of “participation” entrants, and the endlessly skyrocketing of race fees as the events attract more and more people are certainly negative trends.

I should be announcing my 9 race NC RRCA 2010 Championship series in the next couple of weeks and I hope to balance these factors in my selection. Several of my likely race selections are in fact charity oriented races, but have committed fully to maintaining emphasis of the event as a competitive athletic event. It is my hope that we’ll be able to please those who have been with the sport for many years, while at the same time introducing newcomers to the sport into the fine tradition of competitive racing whether you are racing against the front runners, or just against yourself.

I have completed 5 marathons and walked every one of them. My best time was 5:54. I walked them because I had significant problems with my knee when training (running) for my first marathon. When the pain was bad enough, I stopped running but could walk. Instead of quitting and withdrawing from the race, I altered my training and learned to power walk. Believe me, it is much harder than running as it uses muscles differently and is worse on the feet – not to mention it takes longer! I admit to being annoyed when people hear I did a marathon and get all excited, asking incredulously, “You RAN a marathon?” and I say that I actually walked it and they invariably respond with disappointment “Oh” as if to say that, well, anyone could do that.

I’ve also found the most inspiration from the Achilles athletes – all considerably challenged with various disabilities but who are out there doing marathons – and not finishing with fast times. It takes a lot to keep logging the training miles and accomplish the actual event when you WISH you could run like those people who finish in 3 1/2 hours, but know it’s not possible for you. It does feel just as good when you cross the finish line.