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"Off The Record"
A Blog by Jill
M. Geer
Victory in New York
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
NEW YORK – About 48 hours ago, a runner with three red letters across his chest – "USA" – crossed the finish line before all others at the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. When he did, the press room on the 36th floor of the Mandarin Hotel broke the cardinal rule of sports journalism, "no cheering on press row," by erupting in applause.
When bitter, jaded, overfed and understyled reporters are cheering, you know something major just happened.
Meb's win is major for many reasons. Most importantly, it showed that an American man can win when competing against the best in the world. There were no patsies in that field.
It takes more than speed to win a race like New York. It takes cunning, courage and conviction. Meb has all three in spades, but the last two were especially evident in the final miles. As soon as he passed Robert Cheruiyot, I was confident he would win, because I knew that he was running with thoughts of Ryan Shay in his head and in his heart. It was after the race that Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated pointed out to me that Meb had crossed himself after passing the spot where, two years earlier, Shay had collapsed and died while running the Olympic Trials. That spot just happened to be just a few strides after Meb took the lead.
That an American won a World Marathon Major is a big deal. My fellow University of Arkansas alumna, Deena Kastor, had previously accomplished the feat in Chicago and London, but that Meb won the ING New York City Marathon, specifically, made the win even bigger for him. Had Meb's victory come in Berlin, it would have been nice. Even Rotterdam or Fukuoka, for that matter. But New York is the biggest media and marketing stage in the world. That is, to use the technical term, huge.
Of course, Meb's win first and foremost is a testament to his fitness and mental strength. His victory, and the fact that six Americans placed in the top 10, also can serve as a case-study about the whys, hows and wherefores of taking an event group from the bottom to the top. It is a model that the Project 30 Task Force learned about and promoted after doing case-studies of training groups like Meb's in Mammoth Lakes, as well as other successful distance running and sprinting training groups around the country.
I was the official note-taker for Project 30, an undertaking that occupied nearly every working moment for me during a three-month span. One of the things that I and the Project 30 Task Force discovered is that the formula for success is pretty simple, regardless of event group. I shared this formula, in a somewhat different presentational form, Monday afternoon when a reporter from a major news wire called me to ask what had led to U.S. distance running getting better. It is this:
1. Go find the best coaches and the best athletes, and train with them. Train hard. Train a lot. Don't be a wuss. (Editor's note: I don't actually practice this philosophy myself. Mine is more like: train yourself, train alone, train lightly, and wuss out, especially if your lunch is getting cold.)
2. Share brainpower. In Meb's case, this includes his coach, the charming, funny and brilliant Bob Larsen, sharing knowledge with other coaches, especially Terrence Mahon, who coaches Ryan Hall and Kastor. American coaches don't view their training plans like they're the secret formula for the special sauce in Big Macs or the recipe for Coke. They actually compare notes.
3. Pool your resources. USATF, the USATF Foundation, Running USA, the New York Road Runners and others, after we had one male and one female marathoner at the 2000 Olympic Games, pooled their collective mental and financial resources to create a better-organized and more robust support structure for distance-running training groups. On an individual level, it is accomplished when groups of runners share physiotherapists, massage therapists, sports psychologists and other support staff. It's more economical and more efficient. Call it the "public option" for athlete support.
4. Surround yourself with positive people. I don't for a second believe it is a coincidence that all of our top men's and women's marathoners have incredible support from those closest to them, especially their families. Meb was greeted by his mother, wife and daughters at the finish line, and his brother is his agent. Ryan Hall, Deena Kastor and Kara Goucher all have spouses who have competed in the sport or who are part of it in other ways. All chose their coaches because they believe in them, and vice versa. Everyone who is part of their "team" is there because they want to be.
Right now in the world of track and field, Team USA has several events that find themselves where marathoning was in 2000. International rosters are rarely filled, and/or the medal stand isn't a possibility. Although events like the men's hammer throw and women's triple jump don't have 30 million Americans taking part in them, as is the case with distance running, the formula above undoubtedly will work to improve those events.
In those technical events, USATF is working to make the formula a reality, in keeping with the recommendations of Project 30. (Editor's Note, Part II: Although I was the official note-taker for the group, I wasn't an official member of the task force or an opinion-expresser. I was more like a court reporter.) A portion of USATF's deal with Nike is earmarked specifically for athlete development. My boss, Doug Logan, has dubbed it the "Project 30 Fund." We now have a Chief of Sport Performance whose job it is to achieve the goals of Project 30. We have a staff member who is in charge of supporting coaches. We have an individual whose job it is to identify athletes in under-funded events with untapped medal potential, and to get them money and support. We have staff to help athletes find the support staff they need.
Of course, in the end, it comes down to money. With more funds and a bigger budget, we could do even more.
That is why as a federation, we now are in New York as well as Indianapolis. Doug Logan is a guy of big statements and lofty goals, which can be fun (the "big statements" part) and challenging (such as, being held accountable for achieving a lofty goal. What's up with that?!?!? … That's a joke, by the way.) Like it or not, corporate America and the American media live in a New York-centric world. That is why I am writing this blog from USATF's satellite office space in Manhattan, into which we moved last month.
I travel to this office several times each month, as does Doug. In the future, a marketing sales staff will be here. I can tell you that when PR firms and media outlets in New York learn we now have a presence here, and when they receive my new USATF business card that says "New York", they inevitably raise their eyebrows in enthusiastic surprise and express great excitement about our presence here. It can do nothing but help, they say.
Like Meb, USATF needs to be here in New York. Like American runners, we need to win in New York … and Boston and Chicago. When we do, people will take notice. And in the end, it is the athletes who will win.
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Jill
M. Geer is Chief Public Affairs Officer of USATF. She recently completed her
first marathon at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, where she qualified for
Boston. Follow her professional exploits as the USATF spokesperson and her
adventures as a mid-pack marathoner -- Off The Record.
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