by Matt Taylor
Summer brings two of my favorite annual events: The Golden League track series and the Tour de France. Both events highlight the best athletes and draw the largest crowds. Yet while I can – and do – get wrapped up in the Tour, I wonder if cyclists get wrapped up in our biggest track meets? I doubt it - they’re not even on TV - and I think I know why.
I have a love-hate relationship with summer. On the one hand, who can argue against extra daylight, catching a game at Fenway Park, and developing the world’s worst watch tan? Not me. But when June turns to July the dark side of summer emerges. First, there’s the need to crawl out of bed an hour earlier than normal. This act is a normal one for runners; it’s our attempt to outwit our fiercest adversary – humidity. For me, though, it goes beyond just simply outfoxing Mother Nature. I get up an hour early simply to avoid breaking a sweat while I tie my shoes. Success is rare. Then there’s the summer Starbuck’s dilemma. What acts as my writing sanctuary nine months of the year suddenly transforms into a MySpace bazaar replete with coconut Frappuccinos, oversized sunglasses, and one-sided cell phone conversations with what have to be inanimate objects. The curse of capitalism combined with summer vacation.I know what you’re thinking. “Aren’t I on a running website?” The short answer is, “Yes.” There is no long answer. Despite my yinging and yanging, as a runner and a true fan of the sport, there are two things I look forward to every summer: European track meets and the Tour de France. Both events showcase the brightest stars in their respective sports. And they do so in front of capacity crowds. At the recent Meeting Gaz de France, US athletes such as Alan Webb, Bernard Lagat, Chris Lukezic and Sara Slattery competed in front of 75,000 enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans. And what competitive athlete doesn’t get chills watching two cyclists battle up a steep climb with raucous fans lining the street, waving their flags?
As an endurance athlete I can appreciate cycling. I recognize the many similarities between the two sports and I understand the sacrifices that each rider makes to get to that level. But I often wonder if cyclists have the same affinity towards endurance running. I doubt it. Sure, Lance Armstrong, who is making his marathon debut at the NYC Marathon this November, recently admitted that “running is hard” and that training for the marathon has been “more challenging than he expected.” But he was just playing nice, showing respect for his fellow endurance athletes. The truth is that in America cycling has reached the mainstream, but running has not. And despite the common misconception, the variable is not the Lance Factor. No, the reason cycling has reached the mainstream and running hasn’t comes down to one difference - the uniforms.
Cycling uniforms are plastered with corporate logos. The more logos stitched to a jersey, the more money the rider and team receives. The more money that flows through the sport, the more money spent on development and promotion. The more money spent on development and promotion, the more the sport reaches mainstream America. In fact, the corporations demand it. After all, it is their money. If the Tour de France wasn’t televised do you think T-Mobile, Nestle and the Discovery Channel would spend as much money as they do? Of course not. But because they do invest so much money, the sport is able to negotiate a television deal, which provides the corporations a platform to market their products and services.
This principle holds true at the Tour de France level all the way down to the local level. Joe’s Bike Shop decides to sponsor a group of local riders. The riders receive a discount on products, maybe a free bike and, of course, a jersey with “Joe’s Bike Shop” plastered on the
front and back. Joe’s Bike Shop also negotiates with the local Clif Bar rep, resulting in an iron-on Clif Bar logo on the shoulder of every jersey. Joe and Clif Bar get recognition in front of their target audience while the cyclist gets enough support to continue training full time. The cycle (pun intended) continues to grow the sport and everyone’s happy.
Running uniforms, on the other hand, are devoid of any such logos. Yes, the apparel manufacturer is allowed to showcase their logo, but only on the front of the “vest/leotard” (IAAF’s words, not mine) with lettering no taller than 4cm. Ok, first of all, who calls it a vest or leotard? If that doesn’t switch on the light that our sport is outdated you need to check the fusebox. Some argue that commercializing the uniform would ruin the purity of the sport. Wake up! The sport is no longer a bunch of British lads running laps around the quad in wedding gown-white uniforms. The sport is about who is fast and who is faster; who can run far and who can run further. And if you have the ability to run the furthest fastest, we call you Bekele, Tergat or Gebrselassie.
To grow this sport we need more money. There’s a limit to how much money the shoe companies can and will spend. But opening up prime uniform space to multiple corporate sponsors aligns the interests of corporate America with the athletes. Support from multiple sponsors will then sustain a wider variety of athletes and those athletes in turn will provide a unique forum of advertising to a captive audience. Removing the one athlete - one company restraint liberates the “leotard” space and will help running catch up to cycling in terms of mass audience popularity.
I chose cycling as an example because it resembles running in many ways. But I could have chosen NASCAR. Look at what Dupont and Home Depot did for car racing: they turned driving in a circle into the #1 fan sport in America. And look at the #1 fan sport in the whole world - soccer. Or as I, an American with a global perspective, like to call it - soccer. Like running, their biggest stage, the World Cup, happens every four years. And, like running, during that event they wear country-centric “kits” without corporate logos other than that of the manufacturer. But unlike running, during the other 1,458 days they plaster their kits with funny sounding names and strange acronyms, which, as an American with a global perspective, I don’t understand. But what isn’t lost in translation is the fact that those companies are paying lots of money to have their logos stuck on a guy with only one name.
So in summary, uniforms are the key to our success as a sport. Design them well and let them lead the way. And if all else fails, Webb should legally drop his first name. So should Kastor.
Matt Taylor is a washed-up runner, freelance writer, and starving entrepreneur. Last fall he created ChasingTradition.com to document the 2005 collegiate cross country season. A new project is in the works. He has written an un-published book, played soccer, and run 8:57 in the steeplechase. His writing is brought to you by the Boston Red Sox, Starbucks, MySpace, Joe’s Bike Shop, Clif Bar, and the Home Depot, where he once worked in the garden department. He can be reached at matt@chasingtradition.com.
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