on December 22, 2009 by JT in Gear Geek, Comments (8)

The Future of Road Racing: Are We Really Gonna Build This City On Rock & Roll?

Not too long ago,  commentary was posted on the near extinction and death of the indie race due to relatively behemoth racing groups (i.e. The Competitor Group) purchasing them to toss into their well-oiled assembly line of racing series. Meaning… quirky + cool marathons and half marathons with small budget marketing are in danger of being engulfed and regurgitated as cookie cutter RnR races.

The 26.2 and 13.1 races are no longer the only races to fear assimilation. The Competitor Group recently announced that Dean Karnazes will be hosting the very first ULTRA Rock ‘n’ Roll Ultra Marathon in Phoenix, AZ January of 2010. Three letters immediately came to mind: W T F. When I think of an ultra marathon, the LAST thing that comes to mind is some local no-name sugar-coated garage band crooning a song that I have no interest in hearing at the time, local high school cheerleaders and gaudy bling. I think trails, homemade PB+J sandwiches, rugged men and women wearing kerchiefs around their neck along with a calm look of zen-like determination on their faces. Also… mothereffin’ Dean Karanazes?

This is a *big* move by the Competitor Group and also a great indicator of the future of road racing. Historically, the recent downturn of the economy has actually helped distance racing (read: Marathon Outruns Economy). Popular distance races have seen significant increases in participation proving that marathons just might be recession-proof. This is no surprise to anyone who dedicates a significant part of their personal life to training. Nothing makes you feel more in control and more accomplished than testing your physical limitations with a marathon or half marathon. Because of the upturn in this particular industry we’ve seen companies and racing series like the RnRs of the world out there thrive. Debuting their first ultra race (which I imagine will have a solid turn out) could just be the tip of the iceberg.

Is 2010 destined to be a Rock n’ Roll year? And who’s hosting the next Rock n’ Roll Iron Man competition (because you know more IM and half IM’s from these guys are just around the corner)!

More importantly, what does this mean to the serious racer? With increased participation, expect some high traffic and congestion in races by slow and “inexperienced” racers (a gripe that was recently brought up during the last New York Marathon in a New York Times article). I couldn’t count with five hands how many people jumped and signed up for the new Stadium to Sea course for the L.A. Marathon without planned training on how they were actually going to FINISH the course. I’m hoping I will be able to find stats on sign ups versus completions.

Whatever the future of road racing may be, I’m excited to see how 2010 shapes up… Will indie races step up to the plate and leverage grass roots marketing and social media like racevine.com, dailymile.com, popular running bloggers and Twitter/Facebook to increase participation? Will you end up having to pick which RnR marathon you want to run instead of having real choices? Are coaches going to leverage increased participation by using RnR marketing tactics to win over this new breed of runner? Will the next RnR Iron Man be held in a Western coastal state so I can at least go and watch?!
Woo! Can’t wait to find out!

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  • http://www.LAEasyMeals.com Andee (LAEasyMeals)

    Great article! That is crazy, I totally don’t associate RnR with Ultras. Should be interesting to see where they take that series. Just found out there is a L.A RnR in Sept 2010 too, for a half marathon. That would be awesome if the next Ironman was held somewhere close to here! I have contemplated doing it, but the swimming/biking is way too hard for me lol

  • http://topsy.com/tb/bit.ly/84yljd Tweets that mention notorias.com » The Future of Road Racing: Are We Really Gonna Build This City On Rock & Roll? — Topsy.com

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  • Alicia

    “More importantly, what does this mean the serious racer? With increased participation, expect some high traffic and congestion in races by slow and “inexperienced” racers (a gripe that was recently brought up during the last New York Marathon in a New York Times article). I couldn’t count with five hands how many people jumped and signed up for the new Stadium to Sea course for the L.A. Marathon without planned training on how they were actually going to FINISH the course. I’m hoping they will supply stats on sign ups / completions.”

    This got me thinking… I wonder what the impact of The Biggest Loser’s marathon will have on racing… because I’m sure that the average Joe is thinking that 26.2 must not be THAT big of a deal if TBL’s contestants could do it. Scary.

  • http://notorias.com JT

    Andee!!! I will go cheer for you if you do an IM!!!

    Ali – OH YEAH I totally forgot the Biggest Loser did a marathon towards the end! It’s so hip to do 26.2 now – I like it! I just don’t want people to get hurt!

  • http://therunningfatguy.blogspot.com Glenn Jones

    Honestly – what’s wrong with this? There is obviously economic profit to be made. And if a group like ICR or the the Competitor Group can do it better than Jos Schmoe Indie racing, then so be it. Who loses? Runners? Nope. We benefit (in theory) from better organization, race facilities, timing,etc. Volunteers? Nope – they get better checks as “contributions” (Yes – they do that. My Boy Scout Troop gets around $6K a year from these type of events). The Elite racers? Nope – purses should be (and are) bigger.

    Aboutthe only one who suffers is Joe Indie Racing trying to put together a marathon on a shoestring budget. Now, if Joe Indie Racing can do it better and cheaper, the they *should* be involved. Isn’t that what business is all about?

    And as far as new runners getting involved and not being ready? Well – that’s not a race organization issue. That’s a racer issue. Kind of like a person who decides they’re going to climb a mountain after watching Everest on the Discovery Channel. That’s the power of marketing.

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  • http://www.nnmfeel.net/ Doggy

    Greatings, Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
    Doggy

  • http://web.me.com/amaurydeleon Atrusni

    Hi JT,

    Nice article, although my point of view may be a little different than yours.

    Where I live, we are lucky just to have someone organize a 5k during the year. For example, during the complete 2009, only one 5k was organized, that can give you an idea of how poor the support for runners in my city is.

    Therefore, on my situation, I really do not care who organizes marathons or races, I will be happy as long as there is the option to run a race in the weekend.

    There are other bigger cities however near by where I can run races every weekend, but still, I am talking about 220 km that i need to drive (about a 2 hour drive) to run a 10 k in 30 minutes.

    I will say, enjoy what you have, and keep on running!!

    Regards,

    Atrusni

    http://web.me.com/amaurydeleon

  • http://badassdadblog.com Michael @badassdadblog

    As a newbie runner myself who’s run one 5K and recently started signing up for races (including the R&R 1/2 in LA in October 2010), I suppose I AM the target market for these sorts of things. Well, not the ultras, so much (yet?). I think it’s simply a question of supply growing to meet perceived demand. If runners will sign up and pay for races, race organizers will keep organizing them.

    I have trouble seeing this as a bad thing. Like you, I hope people train appropriately and don’t hurt themselves, but in the end that’s their responsibility. You can’t blame the guys who build the roads when reckless drivers crash their cars.

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