Negative Comments Don't Deter Edmonds Half Marathon President

Last month, when announcing the City of Edmonds' signing of a contract with the Reinke Sports Group for the inaugural Edmonds Half Marathon in September, a few readers expressed concern about the business in the story's Comments section.

Specifically, there were questions about past races (see here and here) plus comments brought up by racers and bloggers.

"You Google anybody and come up with anything you want," Reinke Sports Group president Dean Reinke told Edmonds Patch today over the phone. "I really don’t pay much attention. But we've had some some people jump over negative comments, and I’m happy to respond."

Reinke was in Edmonds on Thursday to meet with local organizers and supporters, including Mayor Dave Earling, Edmonds councilmember Frank Yamamoto and Tammy Dunn of the Snohomish County Sports Commission.

Edmonds Patch asked Reinke about an event in Traverse City, MI, that was cancelled after city commissioners said previous reports about the business soured it on the race.

"Sometimes you get running club or organizations that are very parochial and don’t like outside organizations coming in," he said. "In Traverse City, the charity got tunred down and the local running club person thought we’d be hurting them with their event."

Reinke counters negative reports with positive ones, including endorsements from Runner's World magazine, runners themselves and sports commissioners in the 18 markets (up to possibly 30 next year) where the Reinke Sports Group holds half marathons.

"They sing our praises," he said. "I would really hate for somebody who’s never been to one of our races say, well jeez, look what happened three or four years ago. Well, give me a break."

The Edmonds event is part of the USRA Half Marathon Series Northwest Tour, which includes Yakima, Sunday; Forest Grove, OR, Aug. 4; and Tri Cities Feb. 23.

"We’re kicking tail in the Northwest and we’re proud of what we’re doing out here," said Reinke. "This market is unbelievable. You've got the Rock 'n' Roll (Marathon Series), Seattle Marathon, all sorts of events. But really, we're one of the only national series that is coming to the market, and we’re coming at the invitation of the city and sports commission."

The Edmonds Half Marathon will start and finish at Civic Center Field on Sixth Avenue South and Bell Street. (See attached PDF for the full route.)

“This first half marathon is a great step towards growing sports tourism in Edmonds as well as developing a community that focuses on a variety of healthy opportunities for all,” said Mayor Earling in a news release.

As of Thursday, Reinke says almost 100 runners are registered. The original goal was 300, but he says he expects it to be in the 400 to 500 range. "We've got people from California and Texas coming in. A lot of people, and I say this fondly, are wacko for our events and want to run in every state. And we’ve got following of 25,000 who have run events in last four years.

"I’ve been doing this forever; I’m going to be doing it forever. I run every morning. I'm a lot slower than usual, trust me. I was a 4:02 miler in my day."

You can register for the half-marathon at the USRA Web site. Event registrations are now open. All runners will receive a participant’s medal and T-shirt as part of their $65 registration fee.