If Orange County Marathon Is Dead, Some Will Dance at Funeral

It’s a mystery of marathon proportions, one that has been baffling area runners for many months: Will the Orange County Marathon survive another year? Or have financial woes buried it alive?

At last check, marathon organizers were unable to pay the majority of their bills--including the prize money that was supposed to be awarded from the inaugural race last Nov. 3.

In January, OCM founder Kent Bowen said the marathon intends to pay the debts in part with funds raised through 1992 corporate sponsorship. This week, two runners--second-place finishers Rich McCandless and Cindy James, who were due to receive $6,000 and $4,000--said they are still awaiting payment.

Although there have been mentions of an OCM II in at least one national running publication, no one at OCM’s Newport Beach office has confirmed it. Not unless you count OCM’s answering service.

“Right now, the race is scheduled for Nov. 8,” said a voice who identified herself as “only an answering service.” The voice quickly added that the Nov. 8 date is not a certainty.

Reached at home, Bowen’s wife, Karen, said her husband has been out of town, and when asked if she knew if a marathon was planned for this year, she said: “No idea.”

Meanwhile, OCM has sent promotional literature to some area businesses, apparently to attract potential sponsors. The “signature package,” as it’s called, includes a letter that starts:

Where were you on November 3, 1991? 4,000 participants, 150,000 spectators, 25,000 people at the finish line and 26,000,000 television viewers on a regional and national level watched the Orange County Marathon cross the finish line!

Surely, there must be some confusion. Twenty-six million TV viewers? One hundred and fifty thousand spectators? If you’re counting the ants on the sidewalk, maybe.

“I know at least from my standpoint, I didn’t see hardly anyone on the course,” James said. “In fact, I almost got lost a couple times because there was no one around to show which way to go.”

The letter also says five Orange County charities benefited from the marathon’s success. One, the American Cancer Society, says it generated $700 from the race. All of that, ACS spokesperson Teresa Riss said, was through pledges.

Riss said runners had the choice of paying their $25 entry fee directly to OCM, or raising the money as one would in a walk-a-thon and making the check out directly to ACS.

But another, the Orange County Chapter of the March of Dimes, did not receive a cent, Phil Beukema, the charity’s executive director said. Beukema said he made an agreement with OCM that March of Dimes would receive $1 for every $2 ticket sold for entrance to the food festival going on in conjunction with the marathon. In exchange, Beukema said, March of Dimes provided the race with about 100 volunteers.

After it became apparent on race day that runners and spectators were not interested in a food festival they had to pay for--you also had to pay for the food inside--Beukema said OCM officials quickly decided to waive the $2 fee.

“So (Bowen) said, ‘We will, out of good faith, make a contribution to the March of Dimes anyway,’ ” Beukema said. “Yet it never came.”

Beukema says he would never get involved with OCM, Inc. again. He’s not alone. Michael Marckx, who resigned as race director in December and says he is still owed at least $20,000 in salary and sponsorship commissions, says the running community’s trust in OCM is so low, it’s unlikely there will be an OCM II.

Bowen, of course, is the only one who knows for sure. And so far, he hasn’t uttered a peep. Fact is, most OC runners do want a marathon they can call their own. Whether OCM Inc., or anyone else, can see it through effectively remains a mystery.

Great Scott: One of several critics of last year’s race was Olympian Steve Scott, who was hired to help promote and compete in the five-kilometer run held in conjunction with the marathon. Scott has yet to receive the $1,000 ($500 for consultant work, $500 for winning the 5K) due him.

In January, Scott said: “I got suckered in as much as the other guy.”

Now, his name appears on the 1992 OCM advisory committee list.

“It’s true,” Scott said with a shrug. “I don’t think (the race) is going to happen, but I felt sorry for them, so I said, ‘OK, you can use my name.’ ”

Dream date? Tim Murphy, whose San Diego-based Elite Racing, Inc. puts on the prestigious Carlsbad 5,000, says he thinks he knows what Orange County runners want, and he’s prepared to deliver. Presenting . . . the Anaheim International Marathon Relay, scheduled Dec. 6 at Anaheim Stadium.

The race, which will start and finish under the Big A, will feature five-person teams competing for $25,000 in prize money. Each team member will run a 5.2-mile loop.

Murphy says members of the Mexican national team--including Mauricio Gonzales--already have committed. It is expected to be the same team that won the Jimmy Stewart Marathon Relay in Los Angeles last May.

The event isn’t just for the elite, Murphy says.

“We’re going to have about 50 different divisions,” he said. “A restaurant division, a doctors’ division . . . the chief of police in Anaheim says he’s going to challenge other (police departments) around Orange County.”

The race, sponsored in part by Anaheim Memorial Hospital, will also serve as the world championship for wheelchair racers, Murphy said.

In addition, runners wishing to run the entire marathon distance may do so on an individual basis. The five-loop course, though perhaps a bit mundane for most marathoners, will be flat and fast, Murphy said. Although there is no prize money for the individual entrants yet, Murphy hopes the fast course will be an attraction in itself.

“Considering Orange County doesn’t have a marathon at this point . . . we think we’re providing a pretty interesting opportunity,” he said.

Trans-Ambling along: David Warady had just pulled into the fourth stop of the 64-day, 3,000-mile Trans America Footrace Tuesday afternoon, reaching Ludlow, Calif., in fifth place out of the field of 19.

He could hardly contain his excitement.

“Yeah,” Warady said. “I’m going to take a nap now.”

While Warady didn’t have time or energy for words, his wife and No. 1 crew person, Kelly Babiak, said that after 186.7 miles over four days, Dave’s just going through the motions.

“He’s been really smart, although personally I think he’s going too fast,” Babiak said. “But what do I know? Actually, his coach (John Loeschhorn) wrote me a note saying he should listen to me because after a while, he’s probably going to get delirious.”

Marriage across the miles: Don and Kathy Pycior of Santa Ana said they celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary last Friday with a good night’s sleep. Saturday at 5.a.m, they were off and running alongside the official entrants of the Trans-Am.

Don, 53, and Kathy, 43, are staging their own just-for-fun relay across California. One runs while the other keeps pace alongside in their van. After five to 10 miles, they trade places. They have been averaging about 25 miles each a day.

“We were originally going to run it together across the state,” Kathy said. “But I said ‘ Naaaaah .’ I’d be too thrashed. So we’re doing it sensibly.”

The Pyciors--he’s the boys’ cross-country coach at Canyon High, she’s an escrow officer in Anaheim--rarely miss a day of running. In fact, Don hasn’t missed his daily run (three miles being the minimum since Sept. 17, 1976; Kathy since May 17, 1981. (Watch for this tidbit in the August issue of Runner’s World, Kathy says).

This usually means the Pyciors are forever celebrating birthdays and anniversaries on the road. “This one was Don’s idea-- again ,” Kathy said.

And what will they do when their cross-California trek comes to an end?

“Lay in bed for a week,” Kathy says.

The older, the bolder: Those interested in running in a 12-person, Hollywood-to-Las Vegas relay in December should contact Bill Selvin of Irvine at 848-3185.

But don’t waste your 20 cents if you don’t meet the basic requirement--entrants must be 70 years or older.

Selvin, 81, who put on the World Masters Marathon in Anaheim in the late 1970s, says the event returns after a short hiatus.

“The average age is 78,” he says. “But we expect to have at least two guys in their 90s.”