Does anyoe else agree with me that the AC Marathon needs a bit of an overhaul???? No Cash prizes this year, very little advertising or promoting...No pics of everyone crossing the finish line and many water stations were not occupied.....
I couldn't agree more. I live in Atlantic City, but I've never done the race. Here's the way I see it. Atlantic City is not a running town. It's a gambling/drinking/picking up hookers town. So, the interest is not there. When I run from my house to the Boardwalk (and even sometimes on the Boardwalk), people give strange looks. That should tell you something.
the volunteers for the aid station were probably playing the slots. I did the half mary a couple years back and like the race because it was so flat and boardwalks had some had some bounce. it's a shame the race has gotten into trouble.
Take a look at Las Vegas and it's marathon coming up in December. I have NEVER seen a city that did such a great job on marketing/advertisement/sweepstakes/you-name-it, and Las Vegas is surely the mother of all gambling/drinking/picking up hookers towns.
The point is more that AC (and there are some other cities as well) do not realize that a mass event such as a marathon reflects on the perception of the whole city, not just on the event itself. Once that message get's through, we can expect much better events.
OK, that's a good point. They need to work on marketing the race. Las Vegas is doing a great job of that, but I don't know if it will ever reach the popularity of the major city marathons (Boston, NYC, etc.).
Another thing to remember is that this is a pretty local race. People will fly from Hawaii to do the NYC Marathon, but not many people are coming more than driving distance to run in Atlantic City. Las Vegas is a more popular destination anyway, so of course more people will go there.
I agree with all of you. I found out today that The AC race never paid the fee to qualify runners into the Boston Marathon. Really a shame what this race has become.
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