Evening With Running Elite

Last night our main store had a grand opening party, and all the running community big wigs were there. Executives grom all the shoe companies were there. Members of the running media attended, as did community leaders. One who caught my eye was Carey Pinkowski.

For those who don't know Pinkowski is the Executive Director of the Chicago Marathon, and has been for many years. It was his decision to end the marathon last year...a decision I supported. Where he and I differed was his appearent willingness to blame the runners for the problems on the course.

After a good glass of wine, I walked over, introduced myself, and we chatted for a bit about the 2007 marathon. I will be clear I was respectful of the man, and realize he has had to deal with this everyday since then. I didn't want to bother him. I told him I had supported the move to end the race. I also made clear though I thought things were pretty bad out there that day, and I was unhappy with how things played out - water and gatorade situation.

He totally understood what I was talking about, and went over what they did and didn't do for the race. He told me he figured there would be problems later in the race, but never at the the beginning. It was so hot, the elite runners actually grabbed some of the water. Typically the elites have their own water desginated on tables. They had those, but took extra.

I understand Pinkowski feels he did everything he could for the race. He told me how he spoke with directors of the other World Majors, and got advice, and was assured he was doing everything he could.

He also talke about ideas they kicked around this year. Setting a 3:40 course limit, raising entry fees to limit the number of runners, having people qualify, etc. In the end there is a 45,000 cap, and it is getting filled. As I have said I won't be running the Chicago Marathon this year. I will be running the Indianapolis Marathon instead.

All in all it was a fascinating conversation I had with him. I appreciated his willingness to talk to me. I may not agree with his assertions of the day, but in the end I think he did the right thing. I am just not convinced he wasn't doing some butt saving by blaming the runners.

Charlie