Quick Hits: Lake Mary Newly Paved but Sadly Missing 1/4-Mile Markers; Reader Suggestions for Track TV Broadcasters

Quick Hits on a Tuesday:

UPDATE, 4:30 P.M: NAZ Elite director Ben Rosario reports that there will, soon, be quarter-mile markers back on Lake Mary Road. Rosario writes: “We have approval from the County to paint official 1/4 mile markers for a 20 mile stretch on BOTH shoulders of the Lake Mary Rd. We are simply waiting to see about the funding. If the County does not pay for it, we will pay for it ourselves, but this has been something I’ve been working on (along with NAZ board member Ted MacMahon and TRF member Todd Schulz) for months. 

— What a pleasure it was on Sunday morning to park at the mailboxes on Lake Mary Road and see that this well-used recreational stretch has been newly paved.

It’s smooth. No potholes. It’s fast. Those carbon plates pop off it. It’s level (relatively). No big camber.

The bike/running/pedestrian lanes, too, are wider than the the car lane lanes, which I’m sure will really tick off motorists, but please those of us who’ve had close calls with drifting cars in the past. Also, there’s a one-foot buffer — sort of a lane within a lane — between the end of the car lane and the start of the bike/running lane.

Alas, only one thing is missing: the quarter-mile markers on the south side of the road. I’m sure that it was some coach who originally marked off the road for her/his/their athletes, not the Coconino County road crews. Still, it would have been nice for the county crews to take the extra five or ten minutes and get out the stencil.

Then again, maybe one of our moneybags pro teams could do the work. Looking at you NAZ Elite, Dark Sky Distance, McKirdy Trained, Verde Track Club, Ryan Hall’s Runners, Mike Smith’s Stable.

You know what I really miss: The spray-painted bit of encouragement — “Rip It” — that runners formerly encountered right before the turnoff on the hilly road leading to Marshall Lake. It always put pep in my step.

Bring back the quarter-mile markings, please.

— Last week’s rant about ESPN+ and it’s commercial-laden coverage of track distance events — showing half of the 10,000 meters and always missing the big moves in the steeplechase and 5,000 — elicited some ideas from grouching running watchers.

Some suggestions from the crowd’s wisdom:

1. “Do not hire a former sprinter or field-event competitor to do the “expert” commentary on distance races. “That is like having a golfer commentating on a football game.”
2. If, in a distance race, the lead runner(s) gap the second pack by a significant margin, either use a split screen or at least show more of the second pack. “It’s often more interesting than a single runner by herself.”
3. No shaky cameras. (That means you, FloTrack.)
4. No FloTrack.
5. “Instead of showing replays of the 100 meters a dozen times, show once or twice, go to commercial and then show more of the distance races.”
6. “Show all the finishers. We don’t need to watch the distance runners sprawled on the track or bent over breathing hard while others are still finishing.” In fact, in semifinal races, which advance the top five qualifiers, often the best race is for fifth.