What if the Cities from Hopkinton to Boston got together and denied the Boston Athletic Association a permit to hold their venerable marathon?
Then what if those same cities announced they would be holding the inaugural "Boston Communities Marathon" on Patriot's Day on the same course, with the same qualifying standards as the BAA's event? My guess is that the running community would be up in arms over the loss of the Boston Marathon's long history and rich tradition. I can't imagine very many people would want to participate in the substitute event.
Never happen you say? Well I sure hope not for Boston, but it appears that is indeed happening at my beloved Catalina Marathon. I’ve run three Bostons, but I’ve run the last eleven Catalinas. And it looks like 2011 might have been the final one. Why? The Catalina Conservancy, which is charged with stewardship of most of the island, has denied a permit to Pacific Sports, the folks that put on the marathon, instead announcing the inaugural “Catalina Island Conservancy Marathon” would be held on the same course and on the same date as had been scheduled for the 35th Catalina Marathon.
Read the Conservancy’s announcement here: http://catalinaconservancy.org/userfiles/files/News%20&%20Media/CICNewsRelease2011-05.pdf
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| Finishing in 2008 with a new Catalina PR |
I’m no activist and I’m not connected to any of the parties in this dispute. I frankly don’t care who wins, so long as the 35th Catalina Marathon, not some cheap imitation, is staged next March. I’ve met several runners who feel similarly dismayed by this turn of events, and we have various opinions on who and what are right. I put this blog together to provide a place for independent views of the events, and solicit input from other folks who care about this event.
Comments are moderated, so any nasty ones won’t get published, but I’m open to dissenting opinions so bring’em on.
Sign me up ... have you spoken to McDermott yet?
ReplyDeleteMike, I've heard the reason for this is the previous RD/owner of the race wasn't "giving back" enough and/or anything to the conservancy. Its kind of like running a race on someone else's land...if you want to play, you have to pay rent. Its got to be tough to try to make a profit on running events...I've seen in in ultras and with mixed results. good luck with your continued 'legacy' at Catalina.
ReplyDeleteIf the lawsuit is to be believed, the Conservancy had agreed through 2014 on a schedule of participant fees and donations that for 2011 amounted to a guaranteed $17,000.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I suspect that money is at the root of this.
I think that in addition to paying fees to the Conservancy, Pacific Sports LLC also gave money to the Avalon Schools.
ReplyDeleteHaving produced events for over 25 years and having worked for many years with Jack Caress at Pacific Sports and with Mike Bone at Spectrum Sports I think I am qualified to chime in here. I have also worked on many of the Catalina Events over the past 15 years. Here is what my experience says and it is quite simple. If jack Caress treated the participants, the sponsors, the municipalities and the volunteers with the same respect he believes he should be being treated by the City of Avalon and the Catalina Conservancy we wouldn't be having these conversations. I am pretty sure Avalon did not have a problem with his production skills as they are quite good, it is his people skills that everyone has grown tired of, including myself which is the main reason I stopped working for him as I did not want to be associated with him.
ReplyDeleteAll this talk about a conspiracy etc. is pure crap.
All, Leslie Baer here from the Conservancy. We appreciate those of you who have tried to clear up the misinformation being propagated by Pacific Sports, but we thought it was time to chime in. Greg Klein summed it up nicely, but not everyone knows the history and the Conservancy’s position. (Those of you already familiar with the following, please forgive the repetition…)
ReplyDeleteThe Catalina Marathon was started by Hans Albrecht in 1978, and was run as a fundraiser for the Conservancy and in support of other charities on the Island. The Lions Club of Avalon ran the event for most of its history, and in 1998, contracted with PS to run it for five years. When the contract ended, PS told the Lions Club that it would continue to operate the event without the Lions Club, and that if the Club didn’t like it, “Sue me.” The Lions Club chose not to spend charitable monies on a lawsuit.
Recently, PS repeated this scenario recently with the Catalina Island Chamber of Commerce and the running of the Catalina Island Triathlon (owned by the Chamber of Commerce according to its written agreement with Pacific Sports). A few months before the race, PS canceled the contract with the Chamber claiming “breach of contract,” changed the name of the event to the “Santa Catalina Triathlon,” and ran the event on the same day with the runners who had signed up for the Chamber event. During the triathlon, PS utilized about 70 volunteers from Avalon School and donated a mere $1,700 for their effort. Had this event taken place under the requirements of Conservancy permits, PS would have had to donate nearly $10,000! The PS donation to the school worked out to LESS than minimum wage, and as a for-profit entity, use of volunteers is possibly against California Labor Law.
In July of 2010, the Conservancy advised PS that it would no longer issue permits to their firm for events beyond 2011. PS has had written agreements for each event it has run on Conservancy lands negotiated and entered into one event at a time.
We want to make clear to the running community that the Conservancy remains committed to quality distance events on its lands that are the best on the circuit, and that benefit the Catalina Island community. We have full confidence in Spectrum Sports to do that. We have announced two events for 2012: The Catalina Island Conservancy Marathon will take place Saturday, March 10, 2012, and the Catalina Island Conservancy Half Marathon will take place Saturday, September 29, 2012.
For these events, 100% percent of the net proceeds will go toward protecting and restoring the Nature Preserve that makes these races so special, and to other Island charities. This includes protecting the endangered Catalina Island fox, enhancing bald eagle habitat, managing the herd of iconic bison, and protecting the more than 50 plant and animal species found nowhere else in the world that call Catalina Island home.
We look forward to welcoming the running community back next year, and hope that this may clear up misinformation.
Was doing a bit of research about the CIM when I stumbled across your blog just now...some six years after you wrote this and you probably won't ever see this, however...
ReplyDeleteIf you do see this, look at how many other cities have dumped Jack Caress and PS since you penned this article, it's quite a few.
I hope you've found your way back to the island to compete since you started this blog, the race is as memorable as ever.