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It Keeps You Running
Oct. 21st, 2008 02:29 pmFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
"There were over 20,000 competitors in Sunday's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, ran the fastest time of any of the women."
"But she didn't win."
...
"While O'Connell had the greatest run of her life and covered the course faster than any woman, she was told she couldn't be declared the winner because she didn't run with the "elite" group who were given a 20-minute head start."
This is apparently not the San Francisco Marathon, but a separate event called the Nike Women's Marathon. In addition to this hoo-ha, they've closed off comments in their forum (right now, there's only one post -- "Why do the comments on this thread keep disappearing?").
Here's what I just wrote to Nike:
*^*^*
As a former cross-country letterman (not that you could tell it today), Nike's position regarding Arien O'Connell and the Nike Women's Marathon is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
There's a word for races run on the same course, on the same day, with different groups of runners. The word is "heats." But if the elite heat didn't perform as well as the open heat, too damn bad.
On the other hand, you're Nike. There are some ways I admire Nike (your history with Athletics West, back in the day, for instance). But you're also the company who canceled your longstanding back-cover ad on Runner's World because, in one year's shoe issue, you didn't do so well. A more ethical company, committed to innovation, would've just made better shoes.
So I can't say I'm surprised.
"There were over 20,000 competitors in Sunday's Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. And 24-year-old Arien O'Connell, a fifth-grade teacher from New York City, ran the fastest time of any of the women."
"But she didn't win."
...
"While O'Connell had the greatest run of her life and covered the course faster than any woman, she was told she couldn't be declared the winner because she didn't run with the "elite" group who were given a 20-minute head start."
This is apparently not the San Francisco Marathon, but a separate event called the Nike Women's Marathon. In addition to this hoo-ha, they've closed off comments in their forum (right now, there's only one post -- "Why do the comments on this thread keep disappearing?").
Here's what I just wrote to Nike:
*^*^*
As a former cross-country letterman (not that you could tell it today), Nike's position regarding Arien O'Connell and the Nike Women's Marathon is the stupidest thing I've ever heard.
There's a word for races run on the same course, on the same day, with different groups of runners. The word is "heats." But if the elite heat didn't perform as well as the open heat, too damn bad.
On the other hand, you're Nike. There are some ways I admire Nike (your history with Athletics West, back in the day, for instance). But you're also the company who canceled your longstanding back-cover ad on Runner's World because, in one year's shoe issue, you didn't do so well. A more ethical company, committed to innovation, would've just made better shoes.
So I can't say I'm surprised.
