WHAT makes a sporting event worthy of extensive news coverage? Elite field would
enhance Great Aloha RunElite competition.
The Yankees and the Braves.
The Packers and the Patriots.
Arizona vs. Kentucky.
Steffi vs. Monica.
Not every competition has to be at this level to attract media interest but there must be a clearly defined matchup of skills that are far above average.
That's what we look for when we tune in to ESPN or pick up a newspaper.
That's what sportswriters and editors expect.
We want to know who's in the field, we want to know about the credentials of the competitors, and we want to have confidence that the contest will be genuinely interesting.
What's true for football, basketball, hockey, baseball, tennis, golf and horse racing is also true for the sport of running.
That's why I have always believed that major road races ought to have world class fields up front -- male and female -- as well as substantial prize-purse incentives.
I've advocated this since the 1970s, when the concept of runners taking money for winning races was considered blasphemous to the sport.
THERE was a time when the Boston Marathon, which now has the world's largest purse and the deepest elite fields, wouldn't cough up a cent for the greatest of runners.
When the legendary Bill Rodgers dominated the race, he picked up nothing for his efforts.
Even though Rodgers and his colleagues trained throughout the year like athletes in sports officially regarded as "professional," the Puritanical organizers of running events declared, "Thou shalt not accept prize money."
And most runners cringed in respect for this standard.
Well those days are long gone, and thank goodness.
Major races now have focal points, and the elite have incentive.
Talent and the proper incentive can make all the difference between a ho-hum race and a superior competition.
It's what made Kenya's Eric Kimaiyo toss in four or five sub-5-minute miles to come from behind at the end of the 1996 Honolulu Marathon. It's what made Germany's Uta Pippig battle from 200 yards back with blood and diarrhea streaming down her legs to overtake Kenya's Tegla Loroupe and win the 1996 Boston Marathon.
Performances like that can immeasurably raise the standards of an event, attracting more talent, sponsors and people.
SO, put me down in favor of the Honolulu Marathon taking over the Great Aloha Run. Spare me another ridiculously overblown victory in that race by an eighth-place Honolulu Marathon finisher like Tesfaye Bekele of Ethiopia.
The two-time champion from Morocco he demolished was an embarrassment.
If the Honolulu Marathon puts its imprint on the GAR, you'll see truly fast international fields for both men and women, and they'll most likely be deep fields. I've seen the HMA go out and find talent like Ibrahim Hussein and Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya, who both became three-time Boston winners, and Josiah Thungwane of South Africa, who went on to capture the gold medal in the Olympic marathon.
Keep the local flavor in the heart of the Great Aloha Run, but let the Honolulu Marathon assume control and budget for a great race up front.
Right now, it's a "fun run" with a kind of parade mentality -- military "Sounds of Freedom" formations moving in step and stationary bands imposing upon the roadway.
With 15,044 finishers, the Great Aloha Run deserves a high-caliber competitive format that will make the rest of the running world take it as a serious race.