Though it has gone all but unnoticed in the mainstream press, American marathoning flexed a little muscle these past few Sundays. Last week in London, phenom Ryan Hall ripped of a 2:06:17 for a fifth-place finish at what has arguably become the most competitive marathon in the world. And just yesterday at the U.S. Olympic Trials, Deena Kastor came from behind to win in a dawdling (for her)2:29:35, showing that she is rounding back into the Olympic-medal winning form of 2004.

 

Yet Hall's performance received scant attention outside the running community and Kastor's victory could be found on page 14 of this morning's Los Angeles Times Sports section, next to an equally unloved piece about yesterday's Mt. SAC Relays, one of the world's greatest track meets. This is a trend that has been going on for years, relegating the Hawaiian Ironman and World Track and Field Championships to the agate, and it's to the point that the only times endurance sports receive any actual coverage are during the Tour de France and the Olympics. I could blame this on the fact that most sportswriters for larger metropolitan newspapers are overweight football-basketball-baseball infatuated geeks who look grossly uncomfortable and out of place at endurance sports events (you can spot them from a mile away in the Tour de France press tent), or that the mainstream press has not caught on to that groundswell in youth sports which eschews the conventional for the action-packed (lacrosse is now the fastest growing youth sport in America, outpacing slower and less freewheeling sports such as baseball, soccer, and football).

But when it comes right down to it, the problem is us. We love ourselves more than we love our sports.

When I traveled east for U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon last November in New York City, I expected to see the Central Park course lined with spectators. After all, thousands of runners and their families were ensconced in nearby hotels, eager to run the New York Marathon the following day. And the multi-loop course would make for great spectating, allowing us to watch the flow of the race and see the runners up close and personal.

Though there was a sizeable crowd, it was hardly overwhelming. I stood outside in the chill November air with my wife, marveling that Hall's only protection from the blustery winds was a pair of arm warmers, reveling in the poetry of watching great runners make sub-5:00 miles seem pedestrian. The next day, legs dead from standing outside for so long, followed by a leisurely walking tour of Manhattan, I struggled through my own marathon. It seemed a small price to pay for the privilege of watching Hall and the Trials. If given the chance to do it all again, I wouldn't change a thing.

Most of the folks there in New York that day wouldn't either. Meaning that most runners in town for the New York Marathon would gladly stay off their legs and either watch the race on television or not watch it at all. The Trials were held in New York (and Boston) to promote the resurgence of American distance running. Thanks to smarter training and less emphasis on road racing as a runners main income stream, we're finally getting confident enough at the international level to challenge the Africans. Hall, during the London race, actually asked his co-leaders to pick up the pace after they ran through the first half-marathon at 4:58 pace. No matter that he was dropped a few miles later when the tempo had increased to 4:38, the point was that he was up front, pushing himself, right in the mix.

This goes unappreciated by the majority of American runners. We are in the midst of an enormous running boom, one that has seen participation in endurance sports of all kinds go through the roof. But unlike your average football fan, who glorify even the most second-rate professional athlete in that sport (really, does it matter that Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson have a thing for each other? And why is that taking up even a drop of ink on my sports page?), runner and triathletes and swimmers and cyclists glorify themselves. We do not watch, to reverse the Peter Sellers line, we do. And yes, though we are vainglorious and narcissistic (shaved legs, impossibly descriptive discussions about bowel functions, a determined emphasis on finding comfort amid suffering), I think there is something wondrous about pushing personal limits and seeking to live ahealthy lifestyle in an era where passive sports viewership is glamorized. NASCAR has made a fortune off of this concept.

But enough is enough. We should be making much more of the Ryan Hall's and Deena Kastor's here in America. They deserve to be put on a pedestal of sorts for their accomplishments, if only so that pedestal will encourage young athletes to strive to equal their achievements. Growing up, I idolized Steve Prefontaine. Every time -- and it actually happened quite frequently -- he was featured in Sports Illustrated I cut out the article. I hung his poster on my wall. When I would go out to run I would imagine that I was Pre, and so ranjust that little bit faster.

Let's start by supporting events like the Mt. SAC Relays and Olympic Trials and the Hawaiian Ironman. Go out of your way to watch in person or on television. Let people know that all these participants in the endurance sports boom are paying attention to something other than their personal split times. Demographically, we outstrip all others in terms of that one thing sponsors like most: the propensity to make and spend money. The more viewer ship increases, the more sponsors that enter our sports, the more attention endurance sports will receive in the mainstream press, and the more we can stop this recidivist slide that is marginalizing the accomplishments of some of the world's great athletes.

I am disgusted that endurance sports labor under a cloud of drug allegations while sports that passively encourage a performance enhancing drug culture have flourished. This is one way of reversing that public perception. In 1964, more than 100,000 spectators jammed the Los Angeles Coliseum to watch a track meet. Love to see that happen again. It is, however, a process that begins right here, in the endurance sports community.