Doug Thurston, photo couresy of BSIM.org Doug Thurston is an industry executive who has a great rep in managing events, media and the throngs that inhabit a major race culture that is running in the twenty-first century. I am confident of his success and glad he is involved in such an important event. BSIM showed just how savvy they are by appointing an industry executive who understands our sport.
And so here is where I will make my request: Road Running has become an activity, it is, in very few places a sport. The races that support elite athletes, and even more unlikely, Americans who are trying to develop, are fewer and fewer each day. How can you blame races? They are watching every dollar, and they have not figured out how to get money from anyone outside of running. Some races are working with HMOs and food chains, but most, go to the holy grail of road running.
If a road race brings in a group of nice young foreign runners, many who speak little or no English, kiss your local media good bye. Bring in athletes who speak English, who can tell their story, who the local media can develop an empathy with, they, you have a story. Simple things like that, most race directors just do not either make the time or do not get. Hence, major events go on each weekend in US, and they do not get an agate in the local paper or website.
Big Sur has supported young, elite America athletes for years. If road racing wants to be recognized for more than a happening, then, make part of your event a real race. It is not about the money it is about the focus. Give up some hotel rooms, make the athletes visit schools, run with local high school or junior high, joke with a local sports reporter for ten minutes. Those are the details that an executive director who has experience like Mr. Thurston understands.
Road Racing could be, along with Track & Field the sports that are the focal point for the fight against Obesity. The idea of getting active, just moving, is what it is all about. A 5k runner who can break 13:30 gets that a person jogging their first half mile is scared to death, they have been there. After their race, ask your elite athletes to offer to jog a half mile with a group who is just starting to run. Those young athletes get it: their futures are based on how the sport grows.
Doug Thurston Named Executive Director of Big Sur International Marathon
Race management veteran brings 30 years experience to the position
Doug Thurston, a veteran in the race management business, has been named Executive Director/Race Director of the Big Sur International Marathon. Thurston has relocated to the Monterey Peninsula from San Diego, where he was Vice President of Course Operations and Community Development for the Competitor Group, organizers of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series.
His new position entails oversight of the 501(c)3 Big Sur Marathon non-profit organization as well as all aspects of race management for Big Sur’s four major race events and the JUST RUN® youth fitness program. He will oversee a staff of four and work with a voting board of 21 members.
“It’s an honor to join Big Sur,” Thurston said. “This is a unique organization that is completely dedicated to providing a world-class runner experience and, as a non-profit organization, giving back to the community to promote health and fitness.”
Thurston, 52, has been in the running event industry for 30 years and has directed events in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Sacramento, Calif., as well as Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon races around the country. He ran the Big Sur International Marathon in 1992 and has been a part of the team that measured the course. He is an IAAF/AIMS Level A course measurer, one of only 22 in the United States. He has finished more than 600 road races around the country including 25 marathons.
“We are excited that a person with his background and experience will be joining us at the Big Sur International Marathon,” said Wayne Richey, Chairman of the BSIM Board of Directors. “Our board and staff are confident he will help this organization grow and prosper for many years to come.”
Thurston joins the non-profit organization at a key time, just seven weeks prior to the 28th Presentation of the Big Sur International Marathon, held on April 28, and three weeks out from the organization’s Mud Run, held in Seaside, CA on Saturday, March 23. Other race events include the November Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay, and the newly-acquired Run in the Name of Love 5K/2K held in June.
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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by Larry Eder
