PITTSBURGH Officials planning for 2005 marathon

Three large corporations are said to be interested in sponsorship.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A mad dash for cash to resurrect the City of Pittsburgh Marathon, which was canceled because of the city's financial problems, has come up short of the finish line.
Although that means there's no hope that the race, which has been held since 1985, will happen this spring, backers say they'll try for 2005.
"We do have a number of companies who have said, 'While we can't help you this year, our 2005 budgets are not set in stone,' " said Kevin Smith, who owns Elite Runners and Walkers, an athletic store in suburban Pittsburgh.
"We didn't have the opportunity to get the companies before they had their budgets set in stone," Smith said Friday, explaining there was little time to organize. "In order for 2004 to have happened, we had to have everything set by mid-December."
Sponsors withdraw
The city canceled the marathon at the end of September amid a $42 million budget shortfall. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which had provided $500,000 in funding and served as the title sponsor since 1996, had also announced that it would no longer take on that role.
"We're putting our resources into other events for the community," UPMC spokeswoman Susan Manko said.
Smith said he knows of three large corporations that are interested in sponsoring a 2005 marathon and would need about $500,000 to $600,000. The revamped race as Smith envisions would probably not include elite runners like the city sought in years past.
Though hosting world-class runners can give races a high profile, Smith said it's expensive because of their appearance fees and transportation and accommodation costs.
"You can't afford to be shelling out $100,000 to be bringing in 15 runners," he said.
Less prize money
He also plans to scale back the purse. Winners would get about $1,000 or so instead of the $12,500 offered this year, he said.
"We've got better than a year, close to a year and a half to plan here," he said.
Mark Courtney, whose Runner's High company has provided timing and course measuring services to the marathon over the years, said he thinks the race can return but will need sponsors.
Putting on a world-class marathon is a year-round effort that can cost $100 to $150 for each runner, although entry fees are about $50, he said.
Great Race gone
Though the cancellation of the marathon is a loss for the region, the loss of Pittsburgh's Great Race -- a 10-kilometer run held since 1977 -- was more significant because it attracted more people, Courtney said. The Great Race also fell to budget woes, though some runners staged alternative runs. Backers hope to resurrect it in 2004.
"The loss of one year isn't going to kill that event. And I think the same thing will happen with the marathon," Courtney said. "I look for the Great Race to come back this year."
Marathons in Cleveland and Frederick, Md., were trying to attract runners who would have run the Pittsburgh marathon, Courtney said.
Smith estimated the cancellation of the Great Race and the marathon mean losses into six figures for the city in terms of hotel bookings, restaurants and related spending.
"Other cities are going to gain because of Pittsburgh's faltering," he said.