The Extra Mile
If You Want a Royal Flush, Buy Brooks
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Every runner has been there, usually just before a race, standing in a slow-moving line while waiting to use a cold, dirty porta-potty -- with or without toilet paper.
"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool for runners to have a nice bathroom experience instead,' " said Dave Larson, vice president of marketing for Brooks shoes.
Larson's outside-the-pot thinking will result in a unique promotion near the start of the Oct. 26 Marine Corps Marathon. Runners wearing 2008 Brooks MCM apparel sold at the race expo or simply Brooks shoes will have access to a VIP porta-potty with partitioned stalls, climate control, hot and cold running water and plenty of TP.
An attendant dressed in a mock tuxedo will provide assistance along a velvet rope line on a red carpet.
"Come in and you'll get the full treatment," Larson said. "Just like on the movie sets."
That is pretty accurate: When Oprah Winfrey famously ran Marine Corps in 1994, no one saw her waiting in line with the hoi polloi, because she had her own trailer parked near the start with complete toilet facilities. "Oprah doesn't do porta-potties," her publicist sniffed.
With the proper gear on marathon day, neither will you.
RUN! GEEK! RUN! 8K: In yet another unusual promotion, the area's newest race, set for Nov. 2 in West Potomac Park, will provide all registered runners with a pair of geek glasses (and a T-shirt). Pocket protectors optional, says sponsor Welz & Weisel Communications, a public relations firm for information technology companies.
IRON MAIDENS: Olympic gold medalist Constantina Tomescu-Dita competes again today in the Chicago Marathon in a field that includes two-time defending champion Berhane Adere, who started but did not finish in Beijing. Silver medalist Catherine Ndereba and Britain's Paula Radcliffe have both announced they will run in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2. Radcliffe, the world record holder and defending New York City champion, finished a disappointing 23rd in Beijing. Reigning Boston Marathon champion Dire Tune, who finished 15th in Beijing, and Gete Wami, who did not finish, will also run New York. None of their Olympic male counterparts is scheduled to run a fall marathon.
-- Jim Hage
