SD Marathon’s Image Trampled

The motorist was either lost or disoriented, but she had a hopeful smile on her face as she rolled down her car window.

“Is this the Perot group?” she asked.

I looked around. I didn’t see either Ross Perot or the armored car he must use for a wallet. I didn’t see any campaign buttons either. There were nine of us. I thought maybe Perot should do something worthwhile with his money, like maybe buy Japan, if his “groups” were no larger than this.

The motorist backed up and drove away.

The woman addressing our little group on the greensward by Mission Bay was Lynn Flanagan, whose idea of a campaign is a 26.2-mile run rather than a race for electoral votes. She was talking about how she had lost her home to foreclosure.

This was most definitely not a Perot group, though Flanagan would surely embrace him with “Ross for Boss” banners should he care to contribute to the financing of any of the multitude of footraces she directs.

This cozy little gathering had to do with the biggest of those races: the San Diego Marathon. Flanagan was concerned about her company, In Motion Inc., losing control of it.

The “Media Alert” issued Wednesday was an eye-catcher:

“In Motion Inc. is filing a one million dollar lawsuit in Superior Court against a group from Orange County who are attempting a hostile takeover of the San Diego Marathon.”

This “hostile takeover” stuff attracted my attention. When I think in terms of hostile takeovers, I’m more likely to think of Kuwait or maybe an airline. A hostile takeover of a marathon, I thought, would be more like the Kenyans finishing first through 10th and taking home all the money.

In the case of this marathon, there apparently isn’t any money to take home. None of the money-winners from the race last Dec. 8 have been paid, though Flanagan was assuring that this would happen by July 1.

It seems reasonable that anyone who wheezes and gasps over months of training and then plods through more than 26 miles might expect to be paid a little more promptly. Try getting out of a taxi after a 26-mile trip without paying.

In essence, the problems that supposedly caused this delay, as well as other fiscal woes, are addressed in the lawsuit. The claim is that the very people trying to take over the marathon are the very ones who put Flanagan and her colleagues in their current impoverished and embarrassing predicament.

It is not my role to comment on allegations, because they tend to be a little one-sided when a plaintiff distributes copies of a civil complaint and the defendant is not a party to the ensuing press conference. Persons who drive Mercedes-Benzes will fight that part out in front of persons who wear robes.

The shame, as I see it, is that this darned marathon cannot seem to get going and get established without encountering yet another twist in the road.

Flanagan herself, in a prepared statement, said: “The SDM could be called the Rocky Balboa of marathons.”

It was KOd by the city of San Diego by 26.2 miles of red tape, including shopping centers whose tenants probably reasoned that a stream of runners going by at 7 a.m. on a Sunday would inhibit business. Flanagan wanted to run it up the coast, but Del Mar apparently objected to intruders sweating on its streets. Del Mar, you recall, once attempted to ban smoking outdoors, meaning outside of your own home.

This event was so homeless it was beginning to look like it would have to be run in a soup kitchen.

And so the San Diego Marathon landed in Carlsbad, already known as the home of the world-class Carlsbad 5000. I still don’t know why they didn’t call it the Carlsbad Marathon and give a cooperative and appreciative community its due recognition.

But it was home sweet home, at last.

And now this.

Runners and vendors have not been paid, not that we’re talking fortunes here. The runners in the money last December are collectively owed $15,100, or about $8,000 less than Fred McGriff makes per game.

“Hey,” Flanagan said, “everything is a fortune to us. We’re here with no tables and no sound system.”

Why would this woman want to keep fighting this battle?

For one thing, it’s her business and, for another, it’s very close to establishing itself. And, of course, there is principle involved.

What’s more, a marathon is good for a community or area, regardless of who happens to be directing it. It’s not quite like owning a baseball team, but this sport very literally has a healthy and interested following.

It’s a little like America’s Cup in that it’s not for everybody, but anyone who wants to be involved can. You don’t have to be Ross Perot to run a marathon.