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Never on Sunday

Boston hopes to host the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials--but on which day?

by Hal Higdon

The Boston Athletic Association sent a mighty message to the running community recently with its preemptive bid to host the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials, not necessarily on its traditional course starting in Hopkinton, but on a multi-loop course downtown on Saturday or Sunday before its Monday marathon.

That makes sense, since runners arriving in town could become Trials spectators, as was true with the 2004 Trials in Birmingham and St. Louis.

But running a marathon on Sunday in Boston? The theme at Boston for six decades has been, "Never On Sunday." The last Boston run on a Sunday was in 1942. From its first running in 1897, the BAA has held its marathon on Patriot's Day. That holiday, commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord, originally was April 19. When the date fell on a Sunday, that's when marathoners ran. But in 1969, Patriot's Day shifted to the Monday nearest April 19.

Fine for the two states that celebrate Patriot's Day (Massachusetts and Maine), but the rest of the world marches to a different drummer, one not playing Yankee Doodle. Live TV coverage of what should be America's signature marathon collides on Mondays with Oprah. "Sports fans on Sunday see golfers and auto racers, not runners," says TV commentator Toni Reavis.

Traditions

Tom Derderian, author of Boston Marathon, offers one reason why the race remains on Patriot's Day. "Regional coverage is where the sponsorship comes from." That's only partially true, says the BAA. Its major sponsor, John Hancock, is based in Boston yet is an international company. Agreed, 40 percent of the field comes from New England, yet Boston is more than a regional race--or should be.

Actually, the reasons for running Boston on a weekday may be more political and religious. The Hopkinton-to-Boston course encompasses eight towns and passes numerous churches whose ministers might not endorse a Sunday switch. Yet the BAA organizes a Sunday half marathon in October with a course including at least two of those towns. Why not move the Boston Marathon off its traditional Monday, since that tradition only dates back to 1969?

In the best of all worlds, the 2008 Boston Marathon would be combined with the U.S. Trials (men and/or women) and moved to Sunday on the traditional course. Start the female Trials qualifiers at 11:30, the male Trials qualifiers at 11:45 and let everybody else follow at noon. Then keep Sunday permanently as race date. Would national TV coverage materialize? We'll never know until we try.

The BAA claims it attracts more media coverage and provides a greater economic impact for the city because of being on a weekday. Maybe, but the last comparison of Monday vs. Sunday goes back to 1942. Boston needs to change for the good of the sport.

Embracing Change

Unfortunately, Boston has not always been first to embrace change. Boston was the last major marathon to add aid stations in 1978, the year after winner Jerome Drayton complained about their lack. Boston was the last major marathon to offer prize money in 1986, the year after winner Geoff Smith crossed the finish line in 2:14:05, five minutes in front, arms spread as if to ask, "Where is everybody?"

The shift to professionalism in the 1980s permitted Boston to avoid slipping off into a backwater among world races. That backwater remains, only it's called Back Bay. While Boston clings to its tradition, events such as London, Berlin, New York and Chicago seem more in the mainstream of modern marathoning.

Would abandonment of its "Never on Sunday" theme guarantee that Boston would retain its place as Mother of All Marathons? Not necessarily, but it would be a running step in the right direction.

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