Pitarresi: No Hall of Induction is a loss

 

There will be no National Distance Running Hall of Fame induction this year, the day before the 32nd annual Utica Boilermaker Road Race.

 

This was not unexpected. Tim Reed, the executive director of the race, which has financed the induction in the past, had said months ago he was considering pulling the plug for this year, largely because of the economy.

 

And it’s not like it is something new. This is the third time in six years that the inductions have been cancelled.

 

Clearly, the Hall of Fame is a drain on the Boilermaker, and clearly the Hall of Fame needs a reliable funding base. If one does not materialize, the organization is in danger of collapsing. I suppose you can have a Hall of Fame that has an induction every other year, but you can’t have one that doesn’t know if it is going to have an induction from one year to the next.

 

Founded in 1998, the National Distance Running Hall of Fame is a great idea. I never expected it to be a destination, like the baseball, basketball and football halls, but something of a centerpiece to help to honor the great distance runners of the past, if only for a weekend. It doesn’t have to be a place that attracts crowds, although that would be nice. It just has to be place that honors those runners.

 

What has bothered me in recent years is the way the induction ceremonies have been ignored by the local populace, and the legions of people who will run the next day. After drawing good crowds of maybe a couple thousand in its middle years, the ceremonies drew fewer and fewer fans, until last year there were just a handful standing by to see Johnny Hayes, Priscilla Welch and Amby Burfoot honored.

 

And that’s too bad. The ceremonies have had some great moments – last year, Frank Shorter’s tribute to Hayes, the first American to win the Olympic marathon, was wonderful; Burfoot and Welch gave terrific speeches, as well; Marty Liquori gave a stirring speech a few years ago – that any running fan, or anyone interested in other people, should have witnessed.

 

Let’s hope things can get straightened out with the National Distance Running Hall of Fame.  It’s a meaningful organization that’s an asset to the sport and the community.