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Established race handed from one company to another by a City Council... precedent? (Read 250 times)

KMB


    One company organizes the Newport (RI) Marathon for 6 years.  In year 7, an additional permit is requested by a rival company and (long story short) is awarded the race by the city council.  There are some moving parts, but the issue begins here.  Theres a couple additional twists after this initial salvo, and Im not sure the battle is over, but I'm curious about other runner's opinions.  I don't have a dog in this fight per se, but I'm invested.

      Strange thing happen in Rhode Island, in my experience.

      Runners run


      #artbydmcbride

        This happened on Catalina island also, the Catalina marathon and the Buffalo Run Half marathon was put on by Pacific Sports LLC for years and years and the City Council handed it over to the local Conservancy board, so now it is the Catalina Eco-marathon and half marathon.  I think the new race folks keep more of the profits on the island?  <shrug>

         

        Runners run

        KMB


          Well not unique to RI then... don't know if that is encouraging or discouraging.  Disappointing for sure.  Definitely representative of how too many things happen in RI.  A well earned reputation for public corruption.

          xhristopher


            An interesting precedent. I wonder what other established races can be snatched.

            wcrunner2


            Are we there, yet?

              Consider all the races that RnR has taken over.

               2024 Races:

                    03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                    05/11 - D3 50K
                    05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                    06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

               

               

                   

              KMB


                Consider all the races that RnR has taken over.

                 

                did they buy them and take them over?  or just drop a race in the same season and place?  I know when they came to Providence they were within weeks of other competitor (excuse the pun) events but not on top of anyone that I know of... they ended up with no ROI and bailed out.  This Newport RI situation is one guy putting in for a permit to run the same course on the same day in the same city.

                wcrunner2


                Are we there, yet?

                   

                  did they buy them and take them over?  or just drop a race in the same season and place?  I know when they came to Providence they were within weeks of other competitor (excuse the pun) events but not on top of anyone that I know of... they ended up with no ROI and bailed out.  This Newport RI situation is one guy putting in for a permit to run the same course on the same day in the same city.

                   

                  Some of both. I know they took over the old PDR (Philadelphia Distance Run) and turned it into the RnR Philadelphia Half Marathon.

                   2024 Races:

                        03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                        05/11 - D3 50K
                        05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                        06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

                   

                   

                       

                    We had similar situation here with an Ironman.  For many years (20?), Penticton, British Columbia hosted the Canadian Ironman Championship.

                     

                    Then, one day it was announced that a company called "challenge" would host an "ironman length" triathlon the following year on the same weekend and the true "Ironman" would not be give a permit.

                     

                    In the end, it turned out that Challenge paid the city council a substantial amount of money for the rights to host a triathlon that weekend and the Ironman people had to find a new site.

                     

                    It was kind of a strange turn of events.

                    2018 Goals

                    Figure out the achilles thing...... and THEN try to get running regularly again.

                    No racing goals 

                     

                    rlopez


                      In some of the cases where rnr has taken over an existing event, they haven't really "snatched" it... they've taken an underperforming event and... I know this will come across weirdly... improved it.  Really.  I know, I know.

                       

                      Seattle Rock N Roll used to be "the Seafair Marathon".  The rnr version, for all the issues associated with rnr races, is muuuch improved.

                       

                      San Antonio Rock N Roll used to be a little local race called "The San Antonio Marathon".  It could never get traction and never was much of much.

                       

                      OTOH, New Orleans Rock N Roll consumed the old school Mardi Gras Marathon.  Eh.

                       

                      In none of these cases did it go down like Rhode Island.

                      That said, in at least one case (San Antonio), rnr fronted the city council a boatload of money to ensure that it would be almost impossible for a few years for new half marathons to receive permits.

                      wcrunner2


                      Are we there, yet?

                        In some of the cases where rnr has taken over an existing event, they haven't really "snatched" it... they've taken an underperforming event and... I know this will come across weirdly... improved it.  Really.  I know, I know.

                         

                        Unfortunately that wasn't the case with the PDR which had been rated the best HM in the country by RW (I know that doesn't mean a whole lot). The biggest changes initially were dropping the accompanying 5K which drew only about 600 runners and increasing the entry fee by about 60%. Later they changed the course for logistical purposes and easier staging. From a runner's perspective, or at least this runner's perspective, the course changes were not an improvement and also made spectating more difficult at the finish. The City Council did have a lot to do with the change because the PDR had been run by the Parks and Recreation Dept of the city, one of the reasons the entry fee had been so reasonable. Turning it over to RnR probably brought in a lot more revenue for them.

                         2024 Races:

                              03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles

                              05/11 - D3 50K
                              05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour

                              06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.

                         

                         

                             

                        Runner Mike


                          One company organizes the Newport (RI) Marathon for 6 years.  In year 7, an additional permit is requested by a rival company and (long story short) is awarded the race by the city council.  There are some moving parts, but the issue begins here.  Theres a couple additional twists after this initial salvo, and Im not sure the battle is over, but I'm curious about other runner's opinions.  I don't have a dog in this fight per se, but I'm invested.

                           

                          I read the article, but I don't thin it's a fair characterization of the events. I have no skin in the game either other than I live in a neighboring state.  As i see it, the city grants the permits and can only award it to one company on one date. The current permit was up for renewal and Newport didn't grant the existing RD the permit, nor did it hand the race to other company.

                           

                          The other issue is the second RD stealing the race course. I know that Ragner does this with some frequency. They stole some relay courses from Timberline Events. It's darn shady.  But RDs can't trademark a route, nor can they  cannot reserve exclusive use of a date. The permit is really the only "exclusive" they have.

                           

                          Now if the council cancelled a current permit and then gave it to another, that would be cause for concern.

                          KMB


                            Its not like the city put out an RFP though... my opinion: another prototypical example of why RI has such a well earned reputation for corruption.  I wonder how most elected officials here sleep at night.

                            rlopez


                               

                              Unfortunately that wasn't the case with the PDR which had been rated the best HM in the country by RW (I know that doesn't mean a whole lot). The biggest changes initially were dropping the accompanying 5K which drew only about 600 runners and increasing the entry fee by about 60%. Later they changed the course for logistical purposes and easier staging. From a runner's perspective, or at least this runner's perspective, the course changes were not an improvement and also made spectating more difficult at the finish. The City Council did have a lot to do with the change because the PDR had been run by the Parks and Recreation Dept of the city, one of the reasons the entry fee had been so reasonable. Turning it over to RnR probably brought in a lot more revenue for them.

                               

                              I know a lot of folks that never really liked PDR. I'm not going to put that in the "improved" category, but RW rankings are a bunch of crap... sometimes based on stuff that may or may not be above board (like the year they ranked San Francisco as "the best running city in America" the same year they personally sponsored the reboot of the San Francisco Marathon). 

                              But yes, Philly was not an example of a race they improved.  Many aren't.  But a few are.

                              Point is, sometimes a race is handed off and it isn't a bad thing. Even when it involves An Evil Empire.

                              KMB


                                Has PDR always been a half?  Did it used to be a 10 miler? or am I confusing it with the Broad Street Run?  I went to school near Philly and ran that when I was in college but it was before the internet and it was at a time where the systematic reduction of brain cells was rampant, so my memory is limited.

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