| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| JF |
Posted - May 04 2024 : 11:52:56
I just don't get this....
https://www.buffalorunners.com/results/2024/TulipFest24.htm
John Furgele |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| JF |
Posted - June 24 2024 : 11:24:15
That (number of finishers) doesn't matter that much. It's always been about quality.
But numbers are way down in running. Maybe this is for another post, but why is that? Corporate Challenge used to get 10,000, now only 2,600.
Americans are slowly morphing into one-off people. They like one-off events, but not things that are prolonged.
Americans will run the Turkey Trot, but not a race before or race after.
The Super Bowl gets 110 million viewers, but the Conference Championship Games get 50 million.
We will watch the Kentucky Derby (16 million), but not the Preakness (5.3 million) and the Belmont (3.66 million).
We watched Caitlin Clark (18 million) and the NCAA Men's Final (14.5 million), but the NBA Finals only averaged 11.53 million viewers.
Back to race numbers, the argument that there are too many races doesn't hold water because that's always been the case. back when JR and I were racing in WNY, there were always three to five races to choose from on the prime weekends.
I do think cost is a factor. Everything is more expensive and cutting out $70 to $80 per month for two road races is much easier to do than not buying chicken at the store.
I know the cost of scoring and insurance is high, but people see 5k at $35 and say no thanks. Plus, often, the course is not accurate. I think race directors raised the prices too much and too quickly thinking that addicted runners would pay no matter what the price is
I'm not saying 5ks should cost $15, but they shouldn't be $35 or $40. There has to be a settling point.
Lastly, young people. I have three and none of them have any true and real passions. They just get up, do their thing and when the day is done and boredom kicks in, they get on their phone.
You have to have a passion---walking, running, gardening, photography, hiking, reading; something. Maybe I just don't see it, but I work two jobs and I in fact, see it.
When I ask co-workers what they did on the day off and their weekend off, most say nothing or can't remember what they did.
That's sad.
John Furgele |
| millar1987 |
Posted - June 21 2024 : 15:05:13
The main difference I see is 1,073 finishers then vs. 569 this year. Of course, the Corporate Challenge had 2,600 finishers on the night before this time. |
| JF |
Posted - June 21 2024 : 11:38:22
I used to love that race---it was a "mark on your calendar," and train for race. I used to start speedwork in April and by that race, you were ready to go hard.
My goal was to break 16 there and I think I did so three times. The course was fast, the competition was excellent and many others had the same training plan as me and were ready to fire on that Friday evening.
It was a must-do race!
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 21 2024 : 11:35:42
Great job winning that age group and that's a fine time---
The 2024 winning time distorts things a bit---he obliterated the field.
But, in 1997, 105 runners broke 20 minutes.
It just doesn't compare
https://www.buffalorunners.com/results/1997/stgregs97.htm
John Furgele |
| jimnyc75 |
Posted - June 17 2024 : 18:31:49
Thanks for posting the St Greg's results. Intrigued, I searched him. Mikey Brannigan is world class. He is listed as being from Williamsville, but I could not find that connect
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brannigan
I did find this remarkable story about his coach
https://www.runnerspace.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45586&do=news&news_id=485832 |
| millar1987 |
Posted - June 17 2024 : 08:06:41
I hope the St. Greg's race met JF's high standards - https://buffalorunners.com/results/2024/StGregsGreatRace24.htm
Men's winner - 14:52
Women's winner - 18:30 (as a Masters runner)
Age grade winner at 88.56%.
Top 31 runners under 20 minutes, and I won JF's age group with an 18:39.
|
| marty farrell |
Posted - June 13 2024 : 08:32:54
I only come to this site to read John Furgele's posts, very imformative.
marty farrell |
| JF |
Posted - June 11 2024 : 09:36:08
This is astonishing
1989: http://www.polymorphs.net/results/lilac/1989_lilac_10k_res.html
2024: https://buffalorunners.com/results/2024/Lilac24_10K.htm
Someone will call it national, but look at the local runners there. Many from Buffalo and Rochester in the top 50, so that argument won't work.
I guess a fair question is this--those that run in college, what happens to them after graduation? Do they stop running? Do they move away? Joe Whelan is the best local runner out there, imagine if he had these guys around to race against?
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 11 2024 : 09:30:17
Here's another one
https://buffalorunners.com/results/2024/LapsOfLove24.htm
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 11 2024 : 09:28:34
Millar--that is a Boston race. That has nothing to do with small towns like Buffalo, Rochester and Albany. You're better than that!
JR---this is our year--we have the Olympic Trials and of course, the Olympics to satisfy our nerdness.
I know there are runners out there. Look at HS cross country and track teams. They have numbers. But I guess not enough of them.
When I began, you were still there. I just remember going to races, looking around and saying, "There are five guys that could win today." And, those were smaller races with 250 or less.
Not the case anymore. a 20:00 5k is a great effort, but it should not win a local 5K race. That's my point. I'm not knocking the person who ran the 20:00. That's what gets misconstrued here.
John Furgele |
| JR |
Posted - June 09 2024 : 15:51:04
John, I for one appreciate your posts. If not for you, this forum would be mostly dead. We need more participation.
My perception, with no facts to back me up, is similar to yours. I believe it’s simply demographics. Buffalo is not growing and is getting older. I’m guessing that there are just fewer competitive runners around, which seems to be reflected in the decreased interest in this forum.
Although my running days are over, I still enjoy reading results and forum discussions. I’m still a track nerd, including watching a track meet on tv today! |
| millar1987 |
Posted - June 04 2024 : 15:18:41
Fast enough for you? Two weeks ago in Boston. Nine guys under 15 minutes. Molly Huddle with the Women's win in 15:56.
Also a world record for an 80 year old woman in 24:08 for a 101.5% age grade.
https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/139740#resultSetId-457292;perpage:100 |
| JF |
Posted - June 03 2024 : 13:47:23
Now, we're cooking...
https://www.albanyrunningexchange.org/results/search.php?ID=8907
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 03 2024 : 13:36:21
Slow here, too
https://www.albanyrunningexchange.org/results/search.php?ID=8911
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 03 2024 : 13:35:18
https://www.buffalorunners.com/results/2024/Hazelton24.htm
John Furgele |
| JF |
Posted - June 03 2024 : 13:34:10
I'm not trolling, but will continue to post links to winning times when warranted---both fast and not fast.
At least we got some flames here. The Forum seems to be dying a slow death, we need opinions, we need thoughtful posts and discussions.
WNY--like most regions--is now a social running area. That's fine and good, but I wish we had a group of 10-20 who really trained and then went at it on local roads.
John Furgele |
