PITTSBURGH With support, marathon may go on

Lack of city funds ended the City of Pittsburgh Marathon, but hope lives.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Running enthusiasts hope to organize a replacement race for the City of Pittsburgh Marathon next year, relying more on local and regional runners than the world-class athletes the race has attracted in recent years.
Mayor Tom Murphy announced Tuesday that the city won't organize the race due to a lack of city funds -- the city faces a projected $60 million budget deficit with no clear solution in sight -- and the loss of the race's sponsor, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Murphy wants to find a new sponsor and is hopeful pending legislation that would let the city levy new taxes will enable the city to revive the race by 2005.
In the mean time
But Ted Vaux, who owns a sporting event management company called Pittsburgh Runners, is hoping to organize a replacement race for May that will sustain itself and perhaps replace the city-run event.
"What we want to do is put on a marathon that serves the community and local runners the way it should," said Vaux, who handled the race's logistics from 1998 to 2000 and has organized races for more than 20 years. "If it grows back to where we can offer prize money, that's great ... that's not the top priority."
In the past, race organizers spent about 10 percent of the race's $1 million budget on travel, appearance fees and prize money to attract about a dozen world-class runners, like the Kenyan "B" team, each year. The race has served as an Olympics trial, too.
Vaux said the organizers will probably rely on entry fees to pay for the race, which they hope will draw 2,000 to 4,000 contestants. The marathon usually attracts about 6,000 runners for its various age groups and events.
They plan to charge $50 to $65 for marathoners; $180 for marathon relay teams; and $15 for those who opt to run only the 5K portion of the event.
Coupled with local corporate sponsors, the group hopes to have firm monetary commitments and plans by December.
Skepticism
Murphy's spokesman wished the organizers well, but expressed concern about whether they can succeed without a major sponsor. UPMC, which sponsored the race since 1996, bowed out earlier this year. The race, which has been run since 1985, was sponsored by Giant Eagle, a Pittsburgh-based grocery store chain before that.
"The mayor is interested and the city of Pittsburgh is interested in any proposal for any private group to take on the work of organizing the Pittsburgh marathon," said spokesman Craig Kwiecinski. "But it certainly will require substantial resources."
The group hopes to cut costs by making the race route wind through fewer city neighborhoods, which required thousands of barricades to keep city streets free of traffic. Instead, they want a spoke-like route on which runners will begin at the North Side and run out and back along a series roadways to reduce the street disruptions.
Co-organizer Kevin Smith of Elite Runners and Walkers, a sports store, said by cutting costs and trying to solicit in-kind donations for food and drinks, the race could become self-supporting like the Boston Marathon.
"Their money goes back into making the marathon bigger and better the next year," Smith said.