Houston Marathon Dilemma
No, not my dilemma. I'm registered for the 1/2 and am targeting Dallas for a full. But when 22,000 spots are gone in two days, IN JULY for crying out loud, we have a problem. I don't think the answer is to continue to try to open up more and more spots. Another 3000 spots would have meant what? It sold out on Monday instead of Sunday? And do I really want the Chevron Houston Marathon to become a 35,000 entrant monstrosity? And starting half the field 30 minutes later can be a bummer if it's one of those warm January mornings. And who wants to race only 1/2 the field? Don't you want to be on the course at the same time with everyone who is running it?
I think the answer is a 2nd Houston Marathon. Many large cities have two marathons. When I lived in Phoenix years ago they had two. Toronto has two and I think Chicago does as well. Now, I know there's a marathon in Kingwood on Jan. 1 and Lucky Trails in March. But both are at best, suburban races, not truly "Houston" events. And neither is capable of scaling up to a 10 or 15,000 entrant event. Maybe that USA Fit marathon can grow - I don't know anything about it, other than it was born of necessity, which is essentially what I'm talking about here. But I'm envisioning another full-scale major marathon here in Houston, maybe in December, maybe in February, whatever. Maybe the Rock and Roll people step in and put on their own event. I would certainly think there's another 15,000 runners, many of them from out-of-town, who would like to run a marathon in Houston this winter but can't. I'm a capitalist so if there's a demand that's not being met then Adam Smith's invisible hand principle should guide the market to offer a 2nd marathon to satisfy that demand.
This post isn't in any way a complaint abut the Chevron Houston Marathon. I think they're doing all they can to accommodate demand. But the city needs another option. And short of another major marathon the only thing I can think of is to have the 1/2 marathon the day before. But that presents all sorts of problems too, not the least of which is two straight days of road closures.
I think the answer is a 2nd Houston Marathon. Many large cities have two marathons. When I lived in Phoenix years ago they had two. Toronto has two and I think Chicago does as well. Now, I know there's a marathon in Kingwood on Jan. 1 and Lucky Trails in March. But both are at best, suburban races, not truly "Houston" events. And neither is capable of scaling up to a 10 or 15,000 entrant event. Maybe that USA Fit marathon can grow - I don't know anything about it, other than it was born of necessity, which is essentially what I'm talking about here. But I'm envisioning another full-scale major marathon here in Houston, maybe in December, maybe in February, whatever. Maybe the Rock and Roll people step in and put on their own event. I would certainly think there's another 15,000 runners, many of them from out-of-town, who would like to run a marathon in Houston this winter but can't. I'm a capitalist so if there's a demand that's not being met then Adam Smith's invisible hand principle should guide the market to offer a 2nd marathon to satisfy that demand.
This post isn't in any way a complaint abut the Chevron Houston Marathon. I think they're doing all they can to accommodate demand. But the city needs another option. And short of another major marathon the only thing I can think of is to have the 1/2 marathon the day before. But that presents all sorts of problems too, not the least of which is two straight days of road closures.
posted by Lance Collins at 8:17 AM
13 Comments:
Sounds like a good idea... in theory... but there is only ONE Cheveron Houston Marathon and even if another marathon by a different sponsor, date and location (still Houston proper) is formed, people will still want to run THE ORIGINAL Houston Marathon. No new race could ever hold the mystique of the original Houston Marathon. For me... I'd like to see them drop the Half marathon and focus only on the Marathon. NY, Chicago, and Boston ONLY have the Marathon. They fill up almost as fast and are a major race. Houston could gain more clout as a big marathon if the field of the marathon would be 20,000+ instead of 11,000. I'm sure it ticks you off too since you are fast and finish WAY up near the front of the marathon to walk back into the GRB only to find THOUSANDS of Halfers in there. I train my butt off to finish in the top 1% so I can finish my race and not have to stand in a line for food, massage, etc. Having another marathon in Houston would be great as I really like Marathons, but there is only one Houston Marathon.
the problem is that 15000 of those 22000 spots are taken up by half marathoners.
the solution is to have the 1/2 on one day and the full on another.
and another thing. whats the point of having a cap of 11K on the half and on the full if you are just going to let the 1/2's buy up the spots on the full just to turn around and switch to the half cause its full? wtf?????????????????????????????
I had a feeling this post would bring out a lot of comments. Yoder comments on my blog for the first time ever! Very cool. And thanks June, hope to see you soon.
John, your suggestion is interesting, but not one I think they'll entertain. The 1/2 distance is so popular, they can't drop it. But doing it the day before is something they could look at. I know how you feel, to bust your tail and come sub 2:40 only to find GRB loaded with people who have already waddled in from the 1/2.
I think they need to change the 1/2 marathon to a different course and start it 30 minutes or an hour later. Since the courses share the first ~8 miles, you really can't put more people on the same course. If the marathon had the course to itself, they could probably handle 20,000 runners. The 1/2 marathon is what everybody is signing up for. Even though they capped it at 11,000 and the full marathon at 11,000, they are allowing race transfers so I expect that there are really 13,000+ people really running the half and fewer than 9,000 registered that are really planning on running the full.
I am somewhat perplexed by the speed with which the Houston Marathon fills up nowadays. In the early 90's you could sign up the day before - and the organizers had to have a kick-off party and special incentives such as free training t-shirts to try to get 5000 people to sign up.
Like John I think there can only be one (original) HOUSTON Marathon; but yes there could be space for another winter or spring marathon event.
As a former full marathon runner (10+ Houston marathons) I was also at one time annoyed by the half marathoners. I did not like them clogging up the start, getting back to the GRB ahead of everyone else etc. However I am now one of the dreaded them... This (2009) will be my 3rd half. Half the distance, twice the fun... :-) But seriously I think the half should be run as a separate event; starting at least 30 minutes or possibly even an hour AFTER the full marathon. This will decrease the already serious congestion. This year (Jan 2010) could be a disaster with 22000 people crushed together over the first 8 miles. Houston used to be a good place for a PR or BQ, but no more. You have to fight your way around so many people over the first 8 miles that you expend too much energy, or alternatively fall behind by too many minutes.
There is no transfer if the event fills up. The transfers for 2010 were only if the event you wanted to switch to was NOT full. Both are full. So, no transfers. Of course you could always sign up for the full and do a u-turn on Montrose. But, I doubt very many people will do that. They will also have to deal with volunteers screaming at them trying to tell them they are going the wrong way.
There will probably never be another half or full marathon in Houston, unless it is a much smaller multi-loop or walker friendly event like the Houston Half or Houston Fit thing. The City and the Marathon get piles of complaints every year about the street closings for the marathon. There is just no way anyone could get away with doing that more than one time a year. And having the half on a different day/week isn't much of a solution because you would have to either have the expo on two different weekends or have the expo open later on Saturday, which would mean massive lines at the expo and half-ers would have to pickup on Friday.
But, who knows. There is sufficient demand for the half to be 20,000 and the full to hit 15,000. With those kind of numbers, maybe you could justify splitting it over two weekends, assuming the GRB schedule permits it and the City would go along with it.
I don't think there is any easy solution. Maybe someone will start a race in Sugar Land or the Woodlands. But attempts at additionsl half marathons (Angies, Thoroughbread, Run Wild) have been less than impressive.
Personally, I would like to see some preference given based on time, like NY does. If you can run sub 2:55, you shouldn't have to get in the same line/lottery as the guy who is running the marathon for the first time because some guy at his office dared him to try to run it.
I think the marathon may be able to squeeze another 2-3k in the half and full in 2011, but not much beyond that.
Be thankful that the marathon is such a success. The 2012 marathon is a finalist to host the US Olympic Trials on the same list as Boston and NY. That would be pretty amazing.
Insider Info said:
"There is no transfer if the event fills up. The transfers for 2010 were only if the event you wanted to switch to was NOT full. Both are full. So, no transfers. Of course you could always sign up for the full and do a u-turn on Montrose."
If by "transfer" II meant "switching races" then you can switch between the full & half until Dec. 10. From the marathon website;
Switching Races
Registered participants may switch between races (i.e. marathon to half marathon or half marathon to marathon) at any time before Thursday, December 10, 2009. Participants registered for the 5K may switch to the marathon or half marathon ONLY if these races are not sold out.
Tuan
I think starting the Half 30-60 minutes later is a good idea... in theory... and could relieve quite a bit of congestion for the mid pack, however the front runners in the half would certainly overtake the back of the marathon pack by mile 9 unless it was run on a separate course. Having the half run on Sat. and the marathon on Sun is a good idea and could attract quite a few doing both races (think Goofy Challenge). The only thing I do know is whatver they decide to do or not do will sure to tick off quite a few people!
If you're a veteran (completed 10+ Houston marathons) you do have guaranteed entry... even if it is sold out.
I remember my first Houston 15 years ago.... Parked less than 100 feet from the front door! And it was free too! Ah, the good old days!
Looks like USA Fit has been reading Lance's blog.:-) USA Fit marathon is a week before Houston, starts and finihses at the UoH campus in Sugar Land and is a Boston qualifier.
http://usafitmarathon.com/
Tuan
Another issue with the half is the Championship status. As long as it remains the U.S. title race, I doubt the organizers will want to make too many changes.
Perhaps the answer is to put more advertising towards the Houston Half that happens in October or November. It may compete with the Rock n' Roll in November in San Antonio, but maybe the Half should be its own event. Still carry the Aramco sponsorship maybe, but put it with the one that's part of the Warm-Up Series.
Just an idea.
I fully agree with Sam. That is what all the European cities are doing. The Paris half marathon is in the fall (if I remember correctly) and the marathon is in the Spring. 2 different events, 2 totally different times, and none of these issues that we are discussing. The Striders half marathon is ideally placed in the calendar to become THE half marathon...but maybe the course may need some tweeking (i.e. less loops) to encourage the out of towners! As for the marathon, it deserves to be displayed on its own. I am confused as to why additional marathons are being suggested - one marathon is plenty as you can see by the actual number of marathon participants - it is the half marathon that casts a shadow on the marathon, not the other way around. Therefore I would suggest solving the half marathon problem and in doing so, the marathon will fix itself.
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