Boston Marathon Breaks Tradition--Sort Of

Britain’s Geoff Smith, the defending champion, and Lisa Larsen Weidenbach, the fourth-place finisher in the U.S. Olympic Trials, are the favorites in Monday’s Boston Marathon, a race under siege because of its steadfast refusal to pay prize money.

“A lot of people think it would damage the race if we gave prize money,” said 71-year-old Tom Brown, president of the Boston Athletic Assn., organizers of the 26-mile 385-yard race, the world’s oldest marathon at age 89.

Brown, however, is not one of those people.

“I have nothing against paying prize money,” admitted Brown, a member of the BAA’s 11-member Board of Directors since 1946 and its president since 1982, a position he will relinquish at the end of this month.

“When it’s open and above board, that’s all right. But I do object to appearance money and expense money.”

While neither prize money nor appearance money will be doled out this year, the race has broken from tradition by offering some expenses for about 5,800 runners, a dip of nearly 1,000 from last year’s number of starters.

For the first time, the runners will be admitted free to three events--a prerace pasta party, a postrace disco party and a Runners’ Expo. In addition, a limited number of hotel rooms are available to some top runners at no cost.

Still, that hardly compares with races like the New York City Marathon and America’s Marathon-Chicago, which offer more than $250,000 in prize money, with the men’s and women’s winners each receiving $25,000, plus huge sums in appearance money to the elite runners, and bonuses.

For example, Steve Jones of Wales, winner of last year’s America’s Marathon in 2 hours 8 minutes, 5 seconds--the fastest time in history--collected nearly $100,000.

“I don’t foresee any change in prize money,” said Guy Morse, administrator of the Boston Marathon, a race which is hoping that its prestige, reputation and tradition will continue to make it attractive.

“Appearance money is something I don’t think we’d get into either,” said Morse. “We want to preserve the amateur status.”

Attempting to preserve the amateur status is one of the major reasons keeping most of the big-name runners away from Boston.

Another reason is the proliferation of marathons. Within a three-week period surrounding the Boston race, there are major marathons in Hiroshima, Japan; London, Rome; Munich, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Rotterdam and New Jersey.

“We’ve never had this kind of competition,” Brown said.

“They’re blaming the Board of Governors for not giving prize money,” he said. “But our hands are tied. The governor (of Massachusetts, Michael S. Dukakis) and the mayor (of Boston, Ray Flynn) are against it.

“If we gave prize money, we would have to go to a Sunday race in order to raise the money. You’re not going to get sponsors unless you get TV money, and you’re not going to get (national network) TV unless you race on a Sunday.

“A few years ago, when there was talk of moving the race to a Sunday (from its traditional time of the third Monday in April), we got letters (of protest) from every pastor in New England,” said Brown.

While the pastors may be in favor of maintaining the status quo, the world’s elite runners are in favor of change.

“I think Boston has been getting by on the perception that it’s the best race,” said Greg Meyer, the 1983 winner. “But it will continue to lose good runners if it doesn’t give prize money.

“If I run only two marathons a year, I don’t want to give one away.”

“I have a commitment to run in New Jersey (in the Waterfront Marathon May 5), but if Boston had made some changes, I might have jumped in,” said Bill Rodgers, a four-time Boston winner.

“If Boston wants to remain a strictly amateur race, I don’t think it can do that and still be the most prestigious race,” said Weidenbach, running her first Boston Marathon.

“If it wants to remain the most prestigious race, it will have to keep up with the motivation of the top runners. It won’t get the Steve Jones, the Joan Benoits (the 1984 women’s Olympic champion and fastest women ever, with a clocking of 2:22:43 at Boston in 1983) and me.

“The BAA can’t have both -amateurs and the most prestigious race. It can’t have (Portugal’s) Carlos Lopes (the men’s Olympic marathon gold medalist) get on the starting line and then get a pat on the back at the finish.

“I hope the BAA gets together and realizes that this can’t be a weekend fun race,” said Weidenbach. “Times change. They have adapted to the innovation of TV (ESPN, a cable network, will televise the race live, from 8:30 a.m. PST to noon PST). Why can’t they adopt to prize money?”

The 23-year-old Weidenbach, who recently set an American record for 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) in a race at Albany, N.Y., and followed that with a course record in winning the Cherry Blossom 10-mile race at Washington, D.C., is favored in a relatively weak women’s field that also includes Karen Dunn, Laura Albers and Jenni Peters.

“I feel I can run in the 2:27-2:28 range,” said Weidenbach, whose best time is 2:31:31 at Chicago last October, four weeks after scoring her only marathon victory in five races, at Montreal, where she ran while on her honeymoon.

Among the men, the 31-year-old Smith, a native of Liverpool, England, will be trying to become the first Briton to win the race twice. The only other British winner was Ron Hill in 1970.

Both had to fight through similar poor weather conditions--rain and high winds--to win, and both led virtually all the way.

Just like last year, when he won by more than four minutes in 2:10:34, Smith will be a prohibitive favorite.

His strongest competition is expected from Ron Tabb, Esa Tikkanen of Finland, Harrison Koroso of Kenya, Dan Dillon, Kevin McCarey, Mark Anderson, Kevin Ryan of New Zealand, and Gary Tuttle.

One notable change in this year’s race will be at the starting line. It will be 47 yards farther back than in the past, in order to meet the guidelines for proper course length newly established by The Athletics Congress, the national governing body for the sport.

One notable entrant in this year’s race will be venerable John A. Kelley, the bandy legged, high-spirited 77-year-old. Kelley, a two-time winner, will be running the race for the 54th time.