"The Best Sport In The World"
LA JOLLA, CA: IF THERE WAS ANY DOUBT ABOUT MARY WITTENBERG'S POSITION as the leading visionary in American running, she ended the debate with her keynote speech here this morning at the RunningUSA meeting. Before a stunned, pin-drop-quiet crowd of 300 race directors, sponsors, media and others, she made one bold, audacious statement after another. Her speech began with the words, slow and emphasized, “Ours is the best sport in the world,” with a long pause to let the full impact of her vision sink in.
“I asked Mary to lay it all out on the table because I think she is the biggest superstar in the running business,” said RunningUSA CEO Basil Honikman. “And this morning she proved me right.”
Here are just a few of the many highlights of Wittenberg’s remarks. She is, of course, the CEO of the New York Road Runners, following in the big footsteps of Fred Lebow and Allan Steinfeld.
>>We are the only sport with great professional athletes and a lifetime of fitness for all participants, with no barriers of entry into our sport, and nothing that requires an exit at a certain age.
>>We have the opportunity to change the future of our society by doing something to help our kids. We can turn them away from obesity and drugs, and turn them toward a life of enhanced self esteem.
>>We are the greenest sport. Runners don’t emit noxious fumes. (Laughter.)
>>We are helping people raise millions of dollars for worthwhile charities.
>>We are improving the cities where we live by staging events that have a healthy impact on their economies.
>>Today we can rightfully be described as a mainstream sport that is booming, but still has plenty of room to grow.
>>It is time for us all to believe in a much greater vision for our sport, and to go hard after that vision. Running should be the national pastime. We should be on national TV on a regular basis. Every child should do some running every day as part of their regular school curriculum.
>>We need to look at the structure of our sport. We have a splintered sport. We’ve come a long way, but we’ve got to go back to the table and fully evaluate where we should be. Maybe we need a Commissioner’s office. We need more people who have the kind of vision that will help us achieve our goals.
>>It’s time to put action to our words. The sport deserves it. Let’s dare to dream great things. Let’s do it today.
>>The Marathon Majors proves that we can work together. Three years ago, everyone thought we were competitors. But we’re not. There are plenty of runners and plenty of business to go around. We need to do more to help each other. Every person living is a potential running consumer.
>>It’s so easy to involve everyone. We just need to strategize on three crucial fronts: the professional sport, the lifestyle sport, and kids running. Let’s check our egos at the door and get this done.
>>Of the three, I believe it’s the professional sport that drives it all, and that’s also where we’re weakest. Sports like tennis get so much more exposure than we do. At the ING New York City Marathon, there’s no way we’d get the exposure we do without the great professional runners in our event.
>>We want to pay athletes more. But we also need more from them. They have to be available before and after the races. At the Marathon last fall, we had all these people lined up to do interviews at the start, but they and their agents got nervous at the last moment. They were stressing over their races. So we only got Jelena Prokopcuka, who won the race, and Peter Gilmore, who was the top American finisher. So it didn’t hurt them.
>>We need these interviews to create fan interest. We’re going to do the same thing at the start of the Olympic Marathon Trials in November, and the vast majority of the men we’ve talked to want to cooperate with us.
>>We’re strongest if all of us work together as a lobbying force for our sport. Everyone in this room is already very significant, but you can become 10 times more significant when we all work together.
...it's the sort of declaration that makes you feel very fulfilled as a runner, at any level... Thank-you for posting.
One thought: could be that I am coming down with the flu as I write, but the only caution is possibly the "more money" aspect. There are many, many runners out there who run out of sheer passion, enjoyment for physical health and well being in general. They participate actively. They don't just watch. They are part of it. Individually, with every mile they slog. And collectively, in all the races and events(how many are there?) run worldwide. Too much money injected too fast could give rise to the same problems of all other rich professional sports where a lot of people watch and a small minority of athletes perform. Strictly speaking: the showbiz formula. How much is too much? How fast is too fast? I would say if the running community and its leaders don't figure out how to pace themselves, well how can we expect it from anybody else? This is a real chance to give a great example... and yes, set the pace... All the best, Corrado
I agree with all of the points, especially the one about expecting more from our elites. They need to be our ambassadors to the world. And that means talking to the media.