Don’t know how many folks have noticed, but there’s a very subtle, yet significant change to the name of our annual citywide marathon, coming up on February 15th. Our marathon is—for the first time in its history—the Austin Marathon. Not Motorola. Not Freescale and not the AT&T Austin Marathon. Just Austin.

Since the marathon’s inception in 1992, it has traded its name value for sponsorship money. The tradeoff was a necessary evil but, I always felt the commercialized race name, held the marathon back from building better national brand recognition.

All major marathons are known by the host city. We were always Motorola or for a couple of years, Freescale (worst name in the history of the sport). Now we are Austin. Plain and simple.

Unfortunately, changing the name of the marathon to what it should have been all along, has been forced on the race. Which is, a not so subtle way of saying, AT&T did not renew its title sponsorship of the marathon after a two-year commitment.

This was not unexpected and, marathon officials say, this lack of title sponsor shouldn’t effect the ’09 race in any appreciable way. While the marathon is still looking for a new sponsor, it’s unlikely one will be found in time for the February 15th race.

If and when there is a new major sponsor, it will be a presenting sponsor. That way, the name of the race will, in all probability remain, the Austin Marathon..

Which is the way it should be.

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1. The Nike+ Human Race this Sunday night is going to be huge. Nike low-balled its expectations to the 7-9000 range, but our running community has stepped up to the plate. As of this morning, entries had passed 10,500 and could go as high as 12,000 which is outstanding for a one-time only race. What makes this even more remarkable is that of the four U.S. cities (Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City are the others) hosting one of the Human Races, we will have more entries than New York and LA and are quickly closing in on Chicago. Having Lance Armstrong as the host and Ben Harper as the post-race entertainment certain hasn’t hurt. (If you haven’t entered, there’s still time.)
2. We’re rightfully proud of this great running city and many of our civic leaders, such as Mayor Will Wynn and Governor Rick Perry, are trying to spread the message of fitness and health statewide and nationally. The Round Up now has 25 affiliate cities in Texas and the Guv is making a big push to expand it to even more cities. Not to be outdone, the Mayor is continuing his agenda of making Austin the fittest city in America. That’s a roundabout way of saying that yesterday I sat in on a meeting of a group—calling itself Active Texas 2020—which is planning to host a state and national fitness summit in mid-January in Austin. The agenda isn’t set yet, but it will be based on ways to make your community fitter and healthier. There will be workshops, guest speakers and maybe even some music.
3. Have you checked out Keep Austin Running (www.keepaustinrunning.org) yet? If not, you should. It’s a new, very cool site built and developed by Kamran Shah. Basically, it’s Kam’s local running version of Facebook where you can chat with your running friends and discuss best places to run, races and local issues. "In the six years I’ve been running," says Shah, a vice president of Bulldog Solutions, "the running community has had a big impact on my life. I want to have something that lets Austin runners stay in touch with each other and keep updated with things going on in town. This site is for everyday runners and it’s going to be driven by everyday runners in Austin."
4. One of the hot button topics on the Keep Austin Running site has been the Task Force meetings on road closures, races and parades. I was out of town for the last meeting, but I understand the panel is starting to get down to business after listening to the concerns of many runners. There’s no meeting this Monday (Labor Day), but the next meeting will be on September 8th at 6 p.m. and I believe it will be at the Waller Creek Building. But a meeting site hasn’t been set yet.
5. Task Force member and Austin Marathon director John Conley’s father died a couple of days ago in Hawaii. John is headed to Honolulu right after the Nike race on Sunday night to be with his mother and siblings. Our sympathies to John and Stacey.
6. The Thundercloud Turkey Trot 5-Miler on Thanksgiving is in for a major facelift. Because the UT-A&M war to settle the score has been shifted to Thanksgiving evening, the Turkey Trot has been forced to avoid campus. The race will still start and finish on Trinity at Waterloo Park, but the new loop course is entirely different. It hasn’t been finalized yet, but the proposed course will head south on Trinity to 6th Street and then head west through downtown, past Whole Foods before heading north on West Lynn. It meanders around Pease Park and then goes east on 12th Street where there are three good size hills between miles three and four that will certainly get your attention. I haven’t run it yet, but the new course will probably be a wee bit harder. The Turkey Trot will use this course in ’08 and 2010, but next year will go back to the old course as the game will shift to bizarro world (i.e., College Station). Last year, 9200 ran the Turkey Trot and raised more than $100,000 for Caritas. This year, race director Michelle Graham says their goal is 10,000 runners and walkers. BTW: Graham, who was the marketing force behind many races in town the past couple of years, has a new sports marketing firm: Bounce Marketing and Events. Want to reach her, call 657-0090.
7. Sad news about one of my favorite runners of yesteryear: Sydney Maree. The former world and American record holder in the 1500 meters (3:29.77) and Villanova All American, is going to jail for five years in his native South Africa. Nope, it isn’t steroids. He was convicted in a Pretoria court on two counts of fraud to the tune of one million rand. Despite all this, he’s one of the finest runners (and people) I have ever met.
8. Planning to run the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon or half on November 16th? I am. If you haven’t registered, you’d better get on with it. Entry fees go up to $110 for the marathon and $80 for the half on September 1st. Race organizers are expecting at least 20,000 runners. Still no word on who the headliner will be at the postrace concert, but I’ve put my two cents in with Elite and suggested my dream bill: Grupo Fantasma, Del Castillo and Alejandro Escovedo. Anyway, register at www.rnrsa.com or go to Elite Racing’s website. Call 800/311-1255 for more info.
9. Adidas is hosting what promises to be a good time clinic on September 30th at the Riverside RunTex (422 W. Riverside). There’s a group run at 6 p.m. Adidas rep Lisa Bender is bringing in two-time Olympian Todd Williams and two of my best friends in the world from Runner’s World: Bart Yasso and Kathleen Jobes. Bart has run the Austin Marathon many times, but this is the first trip in these parts for Jobes who PR’ed in the Olympic Marathon Trials in April and will be returning in January to try and go sub 1:14 at 3M. Williams and Bart will conduct a clinic at 7. There’s gonna be food, giveaways and brand-new Adidas models to try on.

Have any juicy news for me? (It doesn’t have to be entirely true.) If you have something, send it to wish@runtex.com