May 31, 2009 Restrictions, economy making runs tougher to organize Running is a real universal sport, and it is a part of every state and almost every country with races for their citizens. San Marcos is considered a mid-sized city compared to larger cities like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston in Texas. Large cities will have a run almost every weekend for the runners to enter, and often two or three on the same day. While we are smaller, we are one of the most active cities for runners; and a large part of that is due to the San Marcos Runners Club that offers to help organizations with the details of putting on a successful race. Many of the communities in this area, such as Seguin, New Braunfels, Lockhart and Luling, have races along with some of their special events. These are smaller races for the most part, with a few of them doing very well with up to 600 runners entering; but most have numbers in the range from 150 to 300 runners. Races in larger cities often number close to 1,000 entrants, but when several compete for the same population, these numbers also drop. Lately, the running scene in these large cities is changing, and race directors are finding that organizing a run is getting more difficult. Several factors are working at the same time. One is the economy; and in order to put on a race, the cost is getting very expensive. The second factor is that these large cities are now adding restrictions to the races. Whether this is to protect the city from a liability problem or what, I am not sure. One other factor is that, when an organization puts on a race, it is usually on a city street; and businesses are not exactly happy when the street where their business is located is closed to traffic for a morning while the race takes place. Austin recently put some restrictions on the number of races and the roads or streets on which a run can take place. I talked with Tom McBrayer in Houston, and he said that the same problems are taking place there. The cost of insurance, police protection, permits, and other fees is starting to take its toll on small organizations, trying to come up with the money necessary to put on a race and still hope to make a profit from the race. While it is becoming an increasing problem in large cities, it has also happened here in San Marcos. In the early years, we would ask the police to help with traffic, and they would be very happy to help out; and the race directors would give them a couple of race T-shirts for their time. We had most of the races starting at the Hays County Courthouse; they would run down San Antonio Street and come back on Belvin and Hutchinson, and finish again at the Courthouse. It was a very scenic run, and the Cinco De Mayo 5K had as many as 500 runners show up for that race. Then the restrictions came about. The route crossed state highways (Hopkins Street) and permission from the state and added insurance was needed. The city decided that to have a run, the organization would need a parade permit; and the police traffic control would need to be paid a minimum of $100 for four hours per officer. We have not had a race downtown in many years. Most runs now are out at River Ridge, on the River Walk trail and out on county roads usually starting at the Tanger Outlet Center, and a few in neighborhoods in town. This is not true with all small cities, but it is increasing; and even with these restrictions, the cost of putting on a race here in San Marcos or some of the smaller communities in the area is many times less than in the large cities. What a few race directors from these large cities are finding out is that they can put on a race in a surrounding community for a lot less money, and get good support from that community with volunteers and low-cost permits. We have had several here in San Marcos, and there are more showing up in the smaller communities. It works out for the advantage of both groups, as the race organizers face lower costs of putting on a race and the town has a good number of runners that shop, eat or visit community events or go sightseeing. It is an interesting trend, and will be something to watch in years to come; to see if our smaller cities in the area will take advantage of putting on races for the benefit of their economy as well as the fitness of their citizens. Dr. Maurice Johnson - better known around San Marcos as “Moe” - is a professor in the Department of Health, P.E., Recreation and Dance at Texas State University - San Marcos. Moe has been a fixture in the San Marcos running community - both as a runner and race organizer - since way back when Moby Dick was a minnow. 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