The Barbados Tourism Authority (BTA) has done the right thing in dropping the marathon from the Run Barbados Series.
It was a long time coming as the race had descended from its lofty heights as a blue riband event to a downright disgrace because of declining numbers over the past seven years.
Last year, it attracted fewer than 100 competitors which may have been unprecedented for an event of such standing in the history of marathon running.
The writing was on the wall for several years but, quite naturally, the organizers would have been reluctant to axe the marathon from the series for it was there from the inception and used to provide some of the main talking points, especially in the earlier days.
Briton Hugh Jones became a legend, St Lucian Victor Ledger stood out among Caribbean runners and Barbados boasted of their two winners Reuben McCollin and Adelbert Browne.
American Kim Gough had no equal among the women. Â
But let’s face it. The decision to opt for the expansion of the series by adding new events, particularly the half-marathon, induced the death of the marathon.
From that moment, hundreds of competitors who would have run in the marathon switched to the shorter event, depriving it of numbers if not quality.
In most cases, the seasoned marathon specialists retained their alliance with the race but it lost the connection it once had with a public that would rise before the sun to catch a glimpse of the runners as they moved from point to point in completing the gruelling 26 miles, 385 yards spectacle. Â
In the beginning, you couldn’t determine who the winner would be sometimes with less than two miles to cover but in latter years you could call the possible victor from a handful of runners by the time they reached Bridgetown. It was becoming too predictable and too boring.
I have first-hand experience as I missed all but two of the marathons since they started in 1983. I was overseas on assignment in 2007 and I had retired from the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation by the time of last year’s event.
I have fond memories of seeing people cheering the athletes in isolated places like Wilcox before the break of dawn and then to be greeted by enthusiastic crowds along the west coast as they made their way to Heywoods under a beautiful morning sun.
I recall when the route was reversed and Jones and Canadian Peter Maher dead-heated at Sam Lord’s Castle. Â
Such moments turned the marathon into a must-see event. However, slowly but surely there became less to capture the national imagination and it seemed only a matter of time before the authorities were forced to pull the plug.
As a matter of fact, I believe the dwindling number of spectators to cheer on and inspire the marathoners may have been partly responsible for the declining number of entrants.
All athletes prefer a full house to grandstand and show off their talents. Gradually, the marathon wasn’t the terrain on which to showcase what they have to offer and I am equally sure that sponsors became very conscious to the point that their product wasn’t achieving maximum exposure as intended.
There can be no debate that the marathon along with the 10K was a marketing delight for any potential sponsor. There was an unmistakable buzz surrounding this race.
It was perhaps ironic that its fortunes changed dramatically when the BTA contracted a foreigner to run the series.
I remember the hands-on approach of the late Carl Bayley that served the series well as he visited other international running events and sold Run Barbados by word of mouth.
And it should be noted that during that early phase of Run Barbados, we were able to attract world-class competitors who not only came for fun in the sun but also put on clinics for locals.
So what were the real benefits of the strategic change to have others from beyond our shores to market the series?
Truth is that while the overall numbers may have increased, and that was good news for tourist arrivals, most of the new competitors chose the half-marathon.
• Andi Thornhill is an experienced award-winning freelance journalist.
