Friday, March 24, 2006 - 05:42 PM

San Diego company's planned 'rock 'n' roll' running event will drain money from city, locals say....

...as a battle over the lucrative marathon-runner market has erupted in Vancouver, thanks to a proposal from an American event organizer to stage a "rock 'n' roll" half-marathon here.

San Diego-based Elite Racing is going to city council next month to seek approval for an August half-marathon -- 21 kilometres -- which has prompted a vigorous counter-campaign from organizers of the Bank of Montreal-sponsored Vancouver Marathon that is held in May.

In a tussle worthy of the Greeks and the Persians, local organizers say Elite is a profit-oriented company that will drive Vancouver's volunteer-run event out of business and drain local money to the U.S., while Elite CEO Tim Murphy says his company will attract more runners to Vancouver and likely make the local marathon more successful.

"There's things we can do that the Vancouver Marathon can't do, if they would just relax and let us help them," says Murphy, whose company organizes marathons and half-marathons in 10 other cities that attract as many as 34,000 people. "There's plenty of room for several world-class events and the fact is that Vancouver's marathon does not measure up to the great city it is."

But Vancouver Marathon organizer Gordon Cook says very few cities are able to put on two successful marathons and he fears that once Elite has established a foothold with a half-marathon, it will begin running a marathon as well as a half-marathon, which will wipe out the 35-year-old local organization.

"They've muscled out a lot of other marathons," says Cook, whose organization puts on a marathon and half-marathon the same day, with the help of 1,800 volunteers.

At the moment, it appears city council is inclined to believe the argument that more events will mean more well-heeled marathon runners, not fewer.

Coun. Peter Ladner, a longtime runner who went to an Elite race in Phoenix in January, said he doesn't see a problem with another event coming in.

"What's wrong with a little competition?" says Ladner, who points out that the organizers of three other half-marathon events in Vancouver -- the February First, the June Scotia Bank event, and the November Fall Classic -- haven't indicated they think they'll be driven out of business. "Whatever is best for the city and best for the running community, then that's what we want to do."

The economic climate for running events seems to be improving, he said.

"The First sold out in four days last year."

One of the reasons that debate is so intense is that it has dawned on cities and event organizers in recent years that marathon runners are not just a lot of people in sweaty clothes blocking the streets, but a prime market.

They're typically well-off, well-educated, and interested in pampering themselves before and after the race.

According to carefully studied statistics, they're about 60 per cent female in the 20- to 50-year-old age bracket and 40 per cent male, typically 30-50.

In Vancouver, about half of them come from outside B.C. to run in the Vancouver Marathon, which attracted 15,000 people last year for its event that includes both a marathon and half-marathon.

They bring their friends and family to cheer them on, stay in nice hotels, and eat at good restaurants.

Elite events bring a new level of marketing and buzz to the event. Murphy says they have a rock band at every mile, as well as cheerleading competitions and water-station competitions that involve local schools and neighbourhoods.

His company organizes hotel bookings and official airlines for its events, is able to link with television coverage, and can offer enticements to bring in world-renowned runners.

Cook said he finds it sad that local organizers, dedicated people with full-time jobs who do things like deliver flyers for the local marathon to sports shops in their free time, are being pitted against that kind of competition.