The 2003 USA Men's Marathon Championship and 2004 Olympic Men's Team Trials
Running USA reporter Patrice Malloy recently spoke with Valerie McLean, president of Birmingham Marathon, Inc. and race director of the Mercedes Marathon which debuted in Birmingham, Alabama on February 10, 2002. McLean was also instrumental in preparing Birmingham's winning bid which secured the rights to host the 2003 USA Men's Marathon Championship and 2004 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon.

Running USA: Birmingham competed with heavyweight cities including New York City, Washington D.C. and St. Louis for the rights to host the 2003 USA Men's Marathon Championship and 2004 Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon. Tell us about your winning bid.

Valerie McLean: When I started working with Gene Hallman at the Alabama Sports Foundation, we both had the same goal of winning the bid for at least one of the Trials events. However, I was more focused on what the athletes wanted and Gene was more focused on what USATF and USOC were looking for. It turned out to be a wonderful partnership when it came to orchestrating our bid. We both knew it would be impossible to compete with the reputations of the New York, D.C. and St. Louis unless we focused on an athlete and spectator-friendly bid. Birmingham is a small big city with a big heart and lots of southern hospitality. Because of this, we felt our bid and our city would provide better exposure for the athletes and less stress for the spectators.

Gene's company has had experience with the USOC in the past when Birmingham played host the U.S. Olympic Soccer preliminary rounds to the Atlanta Olympic Games. He knew all of the obstacles and limitations associated with USOC sponsorships, so that gave us some insight on how to pull our bid together. Having put on many races over the years and after talking with numerous elite athletes, I was more concerned with taking care of our American athletes. Many of the long-distance runners that I spoke with felt they were overshadowed by the foreign runners when their championship races were held in conjunction with another race. So we thought we'd give them their own race(s) where they could be in the spotlight where they belong, but combine the race(s) with the Mercedes Marathon weekend to make it more exciting. Gene and I both felt that development funds ($100,000) were needed to assist our LDR athletes with their training to achieve the IAAF standards, so we included that in our bid along with the opportunity for athletes to come to Birmingham and train for the 2003 USA Championships and the 2004 Olympic Trials.

RUSA: As recently as 2000, Birmingham was without a marathon and now the city is hosting the 2004 Trials. Did the successful launch of the Mercedes Marathon give Birmingham its jump-start into the marathon business?

VM: Actually, Birmingham hosted the Vulcan Marathon for 25 years. But like lots of older, smaller races, this one had seen better days and needed to end. A couple of years ago, we asked the event organizers to dissolve the Vulcan Marathon so that a new event could come to town. We approached Mercedes-Benz to be title sponsor of a new marathon in Birmingham and they quickly jumped on board. (Most folks around the country don't realize that Mercedes-Benz has a plant just outside of Birmingham where their M-Class SUV's are produced.) The overwhelming local, regional and national response to the Mercedes Marathon definitely has given Birmingham a jump- start in the marathon business.

RUSA: What are the interrelationships between the elite and the people's races, if any.

VM: There will be many interrelationships between the races. In 2003, we will host the USA Men's Marathon Championships on Saturday morning, February 8, while the Mercedes Marathon will be run on Sunday morning, February 9. We want to take this weekend and make it a "trial of the Trials", so to speak. The courses will be different, in that the Championships will be run on a criterium course, mostly through downtown Birmingham, and the Mercedes Marathon will run its regular course throughout the city. In doing it this way, the Mercedes Marathon participants will be able to actually watch the elite men race before they participate in their own race on the following day. It should make for an exciting weekend for everyone. As for 2004, we'll just take what we learn from the 2003 weekend to make both races better and make any necessary adjustments to the Trials course (based on what the athletes tell us) and to the spectator viewing opportunities. 2003 will no doubt be a learning experience!

RUSA: Will Mercedes-Benz play a role in the 2003 national championship race or the 2004 Olympic Trials?

VM: Although Mercedes-Benz is title sponsor to the Mercedes Marathon, we will have to wait and see what limitations and restrictions of the USATF and the USOC will be for sponsorships of the two events.

RUSA: What has been the community's reaction to the Trials coming to Birmingham?

VM: Unbelievable! This town went nuts when Gene brought Olympic Soccer here a few years back, and is already getting excited about the Trials. Lots of "runners" are coming out of the closets with their old running shoes and getting in shape to be a part of the big weekend. The city, county and state governments are all getting behind us to help Birmingham, Alabama shine when everyone comes to town. Scott Strand, our local elite runner, qualified for the Trials at the 2001 New York Marathon and he's quickly becoming the local hero or hometown favorite. Scott's been working with me for several years at my local running shop, The Trak Shak, and is now a partner at our new second location. People come in just to meet him so they can say they know someone running the Trials. It's been great!

RUSA: Will there be any other festivities or activities surrounding the marathons?

VM: Yes. Plans are still in the works on what all will be happening throughout the weekend, but there will be plenty for the marathon participants to do and hopefully lots of opportunity for them to meet the elite Americans. The Mercedes Kids Marathon will take place on the Saturday morning with the Championships and the Trials. Just imagine how pumped up those kids will be knowing they ran at the same time the Olympic Trials were occurring.

RUSA: Hills, heat and humidity dramatically hampered times in the men's 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials resulting in only the top male qualifying for the Olympics team Let's talk about the Birmingham course. How many hills and turns will the runners encounter?

VM: Actually, we're keeping it as flat as we possibly can for Birmingham. The first seven miles will actually be a slight downhill before jumping onto a mostly flat criterium loop through downtown. Scott Strand, our local qualifier, and Clint Verran, who was second American in New York, ran through many possible versions of the course before settling on this one. They both feel strongly that we can get three Olympic qualifiers on this course.

RUSA: During the past four years, Birmingham temperatures has risen over 70 degrees a total of ten times during the first two weeks of February. The daily low temperature has dipped below freezing 17 times during the same time period. How do you predict the weather will play out on the day of the Olympic Trials, February 7, 2004?

VM: Of course I'm predicting perfect conditions! For the past six years we have hosted a half-marathon and now the Mercedes Marathon and Half-Marathon on this same weekend. We've been very fortunate with the weather in the past and expect no less in 2003 and 2004.

RUSA: Tell us about your professional and running background.

VM: This event stuff is a volunteer thing for me, as crazy as that sounds. I started putting on races because it benefited my business so much. I own the local running store in town - The Trak Shak. I can't tell you how many other race directors have told me how crazy I am not to take a fee, but I have fun doing it, and like I said, my business benefits. My shop has become running headquarters in town and everyone loves to hang out there.

I ran cross-country and track in high school - even made All- American my sophomore year. I helped with the track team while at Auburn University, and have always run to stay in shape. I ran my first of five marathons at age 29, opened my store while training for it, and have not looked back since then. Running to me is an incredible sport. It's a sport where people from all walks of life join together to train and hang out with the common bond of being one of those "crazy people that love to run for some reason." It'svery rewarding to come to work, enjoy the people I work with (all of my employees are runners), enjoy my customers, and to basically enjoy every minute of what I do. I'm a 37-year-old mother of a beautiful two-year-old son, Breck. But after the Trials, I think I'll focus on being the PTA mom!

For more information on the event, go to the race website:
Mercedes Marathon
Contact information for the Mercedes Marathon:
Birmingham Marathon, Inc.; 2839 18th St. S, Birmingham, AL 35209- 2509
Phone:(800)266-5426 Fax: (205)870-5645
email: info@mercedesmarathon.com