I Run

Running generally is not a spectator friendly sport. Unless you're sitting on bleachers watching athletes sprint around a track, a fan of road or trail racing does not get to see nearly as much of the action as spectators in other sports. So I can see why many runners and promoters try to notch up the interest and excitement of running by doing outlandish things.

I just finished reading C.C. Pyle's Amazing Foot Race: The True Story of the 1928 Coast-to-Coast Run Across America. It's the story about the well known - some would say notorious - sports promoter C.C. Pyle and his then audacious plan to hold a foot race across the U.S. Pyle was a smooth talker and showman in the style of P.T. Barnum, and his runners were the highlights of his carnival. And Pyle would literally set up carnivals at many towns along the way, complete with freak shows and other attractions devised to lure in spectators (and their cash).

Still, as a spectator, you don't see the runners toil all day through the desert and mountains. You see them come, you see them go. Or you see them start. Or you see them finish. Unless the spectator is running as well (or biking or driving), all there is to see is a few seconds of a runner's course through the race. So as Pyle discovered, some people would show up here and there but not nearly in the numbers he'd hoped for. Running really isn't all that exciting to watch unless you happen to be right at the finish line.

Yet it seems that running has been employed - and still is employed - to raise attention. Dean Karnazes, for example, ran 50 marathons in 50 days "to raise awareness for youth obesity and to get America active." British comedian, Eddie Izzard, ran 43 marathons in 51 days to raise funds for Sport Relief. And Tellman Knudson, of Brattleboro, VT, is running barefoot across the U.S. to raise money for homeless youth.

Why running? Why not shoot basketballs with your feet while standing on your head, or play table tennis blindfolded and strapped to a donkey? It would certainly be more exciting to watch. Well, running is easy, relatively speaking. You don't need specialized skill to just start running. When you start you may not be a very efficient runner, but you'll get better as Eddie Izzard found out. So there's really no learning curve.

And when you take running out on the road in an ultra-endurance type of way like Pyle's crew, Dean, Eddie, and Tellman you have the potential to reach a very large audience. And anyone who comes out to watch you may think, "Hmm, I could do that". Of course, you need the marketing and funding to make sure people are out there to see you. And to acknowledge and donate to your cause. So you have to have a bit of the showman in yourself like C.C. Pyle because, after all, you are the main attraction.

# posted by jm @ 10:51 PM