After hearing of Patrick Makau’s record-setting performance (2:03:38) at the 2011 BMW Berlin Marathon, I could hardly wait to see the replay of the race on Universal Sports. I set my DVR to record the scheduled 2 hour replay since I was going to be out of the house at the time. The race weighed heavily on my mind the entire day. After scrambling home feeding the kids, I plopped myself down on the couch for two-hours of riveting race action in the first marathon major of the season.

Everything started out OK, then the wheels fell off. After a commercial break, the announcers come back and take us thru the final recap of the finish. What? We’re not even 10 minutes in and you’re showing me the finish? No drama? No strategizing? What a colossal disappointment! The broadcast was only 3o minutes long and was in no way representative of the world record performance displayed by Patrick Makau.

Now I’ve done some research and it seems that the live feeds from the lead vehicles didn’t work – thus no “meat” to the race. My question is why no backup plan? Why on a tape-delayed broadcast wouldn’t you make the viewer aware they were only getting a snippet and to not expect a quality program? In my judgement, Universal Sports dropped the ball…BIG TIME!!!

As runners, we don’t have a lot of options when it comes to viewing running events. If Universal Sports wasn’t around, we’d all be crowded around computer screens watching live feeds at ungodly hours. While I usually applaud Universal Sports for their dedication to our sport, I must stand up and boo loudly on this occasion. What a disappointment.

RMFR

I’m halfway thru the ING NYC Marathon (I recorded it) and wanted to share my notes. What a GREAT day for U.S. distance running!!! These notes are in chronological order so some of it may seem out of place since the race was run nearly 12 hours ago.

• 42,000 runners? Waves of runners starting an hour after the initial gun? In the words of my fellow Norwegians…UFFDA!!!
• Abdi Abdirahman has the coolest nickname (The Black Cactus).
• Meb Keflezighi in the U.S.A. singlet…very cool.
• Looking at Paula Radcliffe run by fast food joints was the ultimate paradox.
• The coolest running scene has to be the mass of running humanity crossing the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
• I love the fact their were no pace setters. That’s one thing that drove me nuts about the Chicago Marathon. Another thing is that New York separated the women elite from the rest of the pack. I hated the fact that the women in Chicago were running with other runners.
• Kudos to Universal Sports. Without them, running wouldn’t get nearly the coverage it now gets.
• The fluorescent yellow and black that some of the elites were wearing really stood out. Remind me to never to wear fluorescent yellow and black.
• Anybody else wish Kara Goucher was in the race?
• I’m amazed at how efficiently the elites run. Ryan Hall looks like he isn’t even trying.
• Is orange the new black?
• Thought it was funny when the announcers said the women’s time of 1:14:04 at the halfway point was pedestrian. Yeah right!!!
• The fall that Yuri Kano took at the beginning was brutal. Talk about wrong time wrong place.
• Was anybody else trying to will Magdalena Lewy Boulet back into the lead pack when she fell behind?
• The 59th Street bridge looks like a beast.
• How cool was it to see 5 Americans in the 13 runner lead pack at the beginning? Sign of times to come?
• Maybe it was because of the fall but Salina Kosgei runs like she’s falling forward.
• I need to run New York just to experience 1st Avenue in Manhattan. It sounds awesome.
• The slower pace in the middle of the race made for great finishes for the women and men.
• When the pace picked up, the U.S. men (except for Meb) got squashed.
• Central Park looks like a great setting for running. Great backdrop for television.
• What was Ludmila Petrova looking for in the drink cups with a couple miles to go? She grabbed two cups, looked inside them and thru them away. The third one she finally drank from.
• Derartu Tulu ran a great race. She never stuck out the whole race but was always in the pack. You could tell at the end she was going to turn it on and win.
• I haven’t seen the interviews yet but what happened to Paula? She fell off the pace hard.
• Meb had me at full attention at the end when he finally put the move on Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot.
• I get really nervous for the runners with all the motorcycles and media towards the end of races. I just waiting for one of them to clip a runner.
• Meb Keflezighi crosses the finish line in 2:09:15. It’s a GREAT day for U.S. distance running. Now that 1982 has been buried, let’s see if we can roll this into a winning streak.
• Ryan Hall was strong to the end finishing in 4th. Like a lot of people, I was looking for him to break out today. He’ll have his day…no doubt.
• My last note is to Nike. I WANT A U.S.A. SINGLET!!!

This goes out as a reminder that the Marathon World Championships are this weekend. The men run Saturday, August 22 at 5:30 AM (EST) and the women run Sunday, August 23rd at 5:15 AM (EST). You can watch both live online at Universal Sports or catch a tape delay later in the day on NBC.

Since most of us don’t have Monday off I’ve set the DVR to record the 113th Boston Marathon. For those of you that would like to do the same, it’s being broadcast on NBC’s Universal Sports.

There site has a bunch of interviews and support pieces. I suggest checking it out when you have time. Click here for the Boston Marathon site.

Big running events need to be broadcast nationally. Here’s to hoping that the big five (Boston, Chicago, NYC, London and Berlin) will all be on for us to celebrate in the achievements of our sports best.

RMFR