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By Doug Kurtis
Free Press Columnist
11/03/2006
All marathon weekend it felt like I was the backstage manager of major Broadway play. The excitement was building and as course designer and operations director I wondered what problem would surface before the curtain went up. If runners could see what goes on behind the scenes they might be more appreciative of the tough work that many volunteers take on to make the Detroit Free Press Flagstar marathon a success.
Let's start with water. The Free Press course is one of the few marathons that have water every mile. That means distributing thousands of gallons of water on the course. It was discovered a few weeks before the event that the location for storing water could no longer be used. The Parade Company came through and created room for sixty some pallets of water. The only thing left was to find a good Hi-Lo driver.
Saturday's winds and rain caused all kinds of havoc for the course crew. Barrels and signage set up had to be delayed until the middle of the night. The City of Detroit solved a flooding issue on Atwater that would have created a lot of soggy shoes.
Rain and wind also caused problems in the port-a-potty corral area. A whole line of them were blown over. All were straightened up and most runners muddled through. Bathrooms seemed plentiful on the course.
The new start line, with the corral system, was a big success. Runners crossed the timing mats over six minutes faster than last year. What runners didn't see was all the No Parking signs that were blown away, leaving hundreds of cars still parked in strategic locations, such as baggage claim. Just past midnight, start line coordinator Joe Baldwin was in a panic at the time a bar fight broke out just across from the start lines. By 3 am things were falling into place except for the delay of two key tow trucks.
Many runners who failed to read their instruction booklets were showing up at the start with tons of questions, a few wondering where they could pick up their number (Oops, too late: at the expo the day before).
The new starting time and starting line helped solve concerns for walkers getting to the Detroit Windsor Tunnel. Only two runners had to hop on the bus.
A number of miscues caused the 5km runners to go off course. The pre sweep driver couldn't locate the vehicle assigned to him. The lead car driver couldn't get behind the lead police car and there was no one in that vehicle who knew the course adequately. A barricade was missing at the south end of Campus Martius and the police decided to make that turn rather than follow the lead vehicle which was on the right course. Fortunately ham operators and officers corrected the mistake and got the runners back on course or the situation would not have been pretty. Runners might want to remember that the 5km is billed as a FUN run.
You can bet your bottom dollar the sun will be shining next year when entries continue to sell out. More city residents and spectators should plan to join the stage to witness one the most spectacular dramas in the Detroit and Windsor.
Doug Kurtis the former Race Director for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon is the world record holder for most career sub 2:20 marathons (76) and most marathon victories (39). Doug is a five time Olympic Trial Qualifier 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996. He was voted into the RRCA Hall of Fame in 1998 and Michigan Runner of the Year - 1985 and 1990. Doug coached two 2000 Olympic Trial Marathon Qualifiers.
Personal Bests:
26.2m - 2:13:34, 25km - 1:17:58, 13.1m - 1:04:51, 20km- 1:02:37,
10m - 48:33, 15km - 46:01, 10km - 29:44, 8km - 23:25
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