Marathons Sprint for the Headlines

The big news on the World Marathon Majors circuit should be the upcoming Boston and London Marathons, but you wouldn't know it by what's happening next week. First, the New York City Marathon announced it will hold a "Livestream" of its annual lottery at 11 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, April 7, and during the "Livestream," the first two professional elite runners for the Nov. 7 race will be announced. Then, and I love this, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced that on Tuesday, April 6, it will have a conference call and major announcement about its 2010 elite field as well as news about this year's charities for our local race, set for Oct. 10 this year. As a sideline observer, I'd be a little peeved if I were on the Boston Marathon staff (April 19), but in the big picture, this will be a good way to kick-start some interest in our sport to the mainstreet media, not just the running media. Stay tuned. It's always exciting when Chicago and New York battle for the headlines. For those of you who don't follow this stuff, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York make up the World Marathon Majors, which also include the World Championship and Olympic marathons in the years they are run.