clarinews@clarinet.com (01/18/90)
BOSTON (UPI) -- A recent ruling by The Athletics Congress of the United States that changes the criteria for official marathon courses discredits the historic Boston and New York races, a published report said Wednesday. At its convention last month, the Athletics Congress voted to require that marathon courses ``loop'' to end within 30 percent of the race-distance from the starting line. It also said downhill courses, such as in Boston, cannot have more than a one-meter per kilometer drop, the Boston Globe said. The hilly Boston Marathon, slated for its 94th running this April, fails on both counts, while the New York Marathon does not meet the loop requirement. Because the ruling is retroactive, record times set at the 26-mile, 385-yard races have been categorized like wind-aided sprints or long jumps, the paper said. The ruling, intended to align U.S. standards with pending International Amateur Athletic Federation criteria for distance running, scrapped the Athletic Congress's recognition of record times at the two marathons, including Alberto Salazar's 2:08:52 in 1982 in Boston and Ken Martin's New York best 2:09:38. Guy Morse, the race director for the Boston Athletic Association, which runs the Boston Marathon, said, ``TAC knows I'm not happy, and I'll be working in different directions on this situation. Boston is not in any way set up as a downhill record-setting course. The history of this course should be recognized, and this race grandfathered.'' New York Marathon Director Fred Lebow also blasted the ruling. ``It's absurd,'' he told the Globe. ``You look at the original Greek marathon, the original Olympic Marathon course in London, Boston -- the longest continuously running marathon -- and New York -- the biggest marathon -- and what do you see? They're all point-to-point.'' Salazar, whose American-record 2:08:13 set in New York's 1981 race was wiped out by the ruling, said, ``It was evident to me that they wanted to nail a big race so they nailed New York. They abolished the time and said I didn't run the distance.'' And former Boston winner Greg Meyer said he hopes marathon organizers ``raise a huge stink'' over the ruling. ``The TAC has done a huge disservice to our sport, taking the race that established road running in our country and saying to the world that it doesn't count anymore, that American athletes will have to run someplace else to qualify for the Olympic trials,'' he told the Globe.