Denver Marathon Registration 2009 (Rock ‘N’ Roll)
REGISTRATION ALERT – Registration for the 2009 Denver Marathon, Half Marathon and ING Marathon Relay opens Friday, January 30th. $15 off registration for three days only! Offer expires at midnight, February, 1st. Enter promo code RUN09 to redeem.
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I’m still not sure what to think of Denver becoming The Denver Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon in 2010. I think it’s good for the city and for the marathon, if it brings an infusion of cash into the event, it will be a plus. However, I have to wonder at what point does the Rock ‘N’ Roll themed marathon lose its uniqueness? I can see having a couple, but at some point you reach market saturation.
I personally don’t care about bands on the course, that doesn’t matter to me or motivate me. What I would like to see is more runners in the marathon and more fans on the course, thus I think this is a good way to increase both. I was talking to a friend who lives in San Diego and she told me that she went out to spectate the San Diego Marathon and listen to the bands. This is a person that has zero interest in running, so if a few bands can get the average person to come out and check out a marathon, that’s a plus.
What I do wonder is how this will impact the Boulder Marathon. I actually don’t think it will do that much, the Boulder Marathon targets a different demographic than a Rock ‘N’ Roll Denver Marathon. In Boulder you’re running on dirt roads, in the country and on a more challenging course. I think the smart move for Boulder is to try to grow the Half Marathon and to ensure that it’s always three to four weeks out from the Denver Marathon, so that runners will use the Boulder Half as a tune up, which is exactly what I did last year.
If I was the Boulder Marathon, I might even consider moving the event to the spring and taking on Colfax Marathon. I see little growth for the Colfax Marathon, but the Colfax Half Marathon has some potential. I think this is the do or die year for the Colfax Marathon, they cannot risk another course calamity. I still don’t understand why they separate the Half and the Full Marathon though, from a cost standpoint you’re closing off 26.2 + 13.1= 39.3 Miles of Roads versus combining the course and only closing approximately 26.2 miles of road.
I expected better! “Loose” it’s uniqueness?
You’re killin’ me man!
Wait, Justin, you missed my improper use of “it’s” when I should have stated “its.”
Time to step it up man!
I hadn’t heard the news about the Denver Marathon joining the ranks of the Rock ‘N Roll marathons. It will probably get more people interested than might otherwise be…I guess that’s a good thing?
I’m a fan of the Boulder Backroads too. I did the half a couple of years ago and it’s a nice, low key race. Good scenery, very enjoyable.
Oh I saw it, but “lose” v. “loose” is one that drives me nuts. If you want to get them all, you have “your” instead of “you’re” in the last sentence!
I also made the adjustment, changing “Rock ‘N Roll” to “Rock ‘N’ Roll,” not exactly sure why it is the later though. I understand the apostrophe before the N, but not after.
I also had to change the “3-4 weeks” to “three to four weeks” as I violated the rule of using a numeric number when the value is below ten.
So here’s your next post – if you were the race director for Colfax, what would you do to improve it, give it some new life?
I’d change the name for one. No one outside of Denver really knows what “Colfax” is. Starting in 2010, plain ole “Denver Marathon” will be available, but it’s probably trademarked. I’d go with something crazy then like the Cincy Flying Pig Marathon, something completley unique that includes “Denver” in the name.
As a marathoner, I like that the half is completely separate, but from a cost standpoint, that would have to be changed. If they want to keep it as a non-profit race benefiting Colfax charities, the course would have to keep Colfax as a focus, but long stretches on Colfax could probably be further minimized.
I’d definitely hire a graphic artist to come up with a new race logo and retool that website. That would be the biggest bang for their buck.
Get the USATF club marathon relay champs back to bring some prestige to the race, put up some prize money and recruit the local 2:30 guys to run, lower the entry fee from the $95, widen the start, tech t-shirt, lead pace vehicle, lots of things.
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