T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

[BillVol]

http://www.tennessean.com/business/arch ... D=50295656

My wife ran the Country Music 1/2 Marathon over the weekend, while I had a couple at the famous music row dive Bobby's Idle Hour (great place). I noticed in the above article the comment from the race organizer that "marathon runners are typically very affluent."

As we all know, that is the problem for the USA. Any time you have a sport that is accessible and affordable to the masses, the poorer people tend to dominate that sport -- unless those poorer people are just not interested in it, such is the case with distance running in this country. Occasionally you will have an affluent person do well in an "accessible" sport (Bill Bradley in basketball), but normally these sports are for the less affluent.

It costs nothing to run, which is why we are getting killed by the Africans. IMO we need to try to draw poorer athletes to distance running. Are efforts being made to do so? Baseball has their "Baseball in the Streets" program designed to get black kids back into baseball. I don't think it's working, but at least they are trying. If we could attract less affluent people to distance running, maybe we could improve distance running in this country.

[EPelle]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

Why not just hire an African, help them gain citizenship and then watch them take off for the races. You would then have your more affluent, fast African-American.

There are those exceptions to the affluency rule, as we can look at Tiger (golf); Williams sisters (tennis); and Carter (hockey Canada, NHL). I know Tiger is trying to help other kids gain interest in golf, but I have not seen any substantial increase in the number of black high school or college golfers.

[gh]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

>Baseball has their "Baseball in the Streets" program designed to get black
>kids back into baseball. I don't think it's working, but at least they are
>trying. >>

BillVol.... good to have you back!

No, doesn't seem baseball's plan is working. Check out this recent story, called "Big Leagues A Black Hole For African Americans."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 66TJP1.DTL

[kuha]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

The above comment about the affluence of US marathon runners has exactly nothing to do with our competitive status in the world. In the US, marathon running is a LEISURE activity for white professional folks. It is most emphatically NOT a professional activity for poor people of any color. These are radically different categories of athletes...

[dl]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

I think it's pretty much a fact that marathon running is not a wise career decision for Americans hoping to become rich. But neither was it back in the '70's and early '80's when Americans were running much better over 26M. I don't think that's the problem...

[Conor Dary]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

'I think it's pretty much a fact that marathon running is not a wise career decision for Americans hoping to become rich. But neither was it back in the '70's and early '80's when Americans were running much better over 26M.'

While distance running was NOT a way to get rich
in the 70's it was a hell of lot easier back then. When I moved to Eugene in 1975 I lived in a house across the street from the UO and the rent for the entire house was $100 a month! Tuition was fairly cheap, even for an out-of-stater since one could get residency in 6 months. I could go on, but in essense it was relatively easy to run 100 miles a week and have what many of us, then, considered a normal life. This was also true in Boulder after I moved there in 1981.

And when I say 'normal' I mean that. I knew dozens in Eugene and Boulder back then who thought nothing of running 100 miles or more a week and yet led normal lives, either in teaching, engineering or whatever. It was that large group of runners with a wide range of abilities that made that era so unique.

Of course, normal to one person can be odd to another. I remember being at a party in Eugene about 1976 and talking to a non-runner. I happened to say I ran twice a day and she asked why? I of course knew what she meant, but all I could think of was: "I don't have time to run three times a day!"

[MJD]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

And when I say 'normal' I mean that. I knew dozens in Eugene and Boulder
>back then who thought nothing of running 100 miles or more a week and yet led
>normal lives, either in teaching, engineering or whatever.

100 miles a week and a full time job just requires a bit of time management and prioritizing. It is no big deal and those
of us who know that have to keep reminding people of it.

[BillVol]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

Garry, thank you for the welcome back and for the link. I figured after my outburst (which I apologize for) I'd better take some time off. Thanks to everybody for the comments, too.

[malmo]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

>NHL). I know Tiger is trying to help other kids gain interest in golf, but I
>have not seen any substantial increase in the number of black high school or
>college golfers.

since Tiger is less than one eighth black, and fifty percent Asian, I'd think he'd help Asians become more interested in golf?

[malmo]

Re: T & F efforts to attract less affluent distance runners?

Just exactly where does the author get the idea that marathoners are from affluent families? I've been around them for over 20 years and haven't yet met one.