Dec 12, 2000

Texans are known for thinking big. The San Antonio Marathon has hovered at a midsized 1500 runners the past few years and now wants to be bigger. David King, a writer for the local newspaper, asked me to comment on those plans.

"The organizers are spreading the word about their event into Mexico and Central America, adding 'Marathon of the Americas' to their official name," he said. "Do you think this will help build the field, both in numbers and in quality?

"Somebody also told me a lot of elite African marathoners train in Mexico. Could this race attract them? In general, what have other marathons done to build up participation and prestige?"

I told him what you already know but he, as a general-assignment reporter, might not have realized: Marathons are booming, both in numbers of runners and races. U.S. races combined for a record 435,000 finishes in 1999.

There is no shortage of available entrants. However, there's also no lack of races for them to run. More than 300 marathons are held in the U.S. each year, the count is climbing all the time, and a glut of marathons is looming.

Competition for runners is fierce, especially for a newer race going up against more established ones. San Antonio competes in the same state and same winter season against Houston and Austin.

Marketing outside the country can't hurt. But San Antonians need to realize that the most populous marathon nation by far is their own. Appealing to runners from cold-weather states, and calling it something like the 'Alamo Marathon,' probably would spur growth far more than looking to the south.

David King mentioned the elite Kenyans. I don't know of many who train in Mexico, but some of them (as well as other non-Americans) live in NEW Mexico -- Albuquerque, specifically. They come to any race where the money is right.

Inviting a few elites has promotional value. They bring national and regional visibility to the event, which in turn grabs the attention of the many runners who can make a race grow.

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