From http://www.irun.ca/blog/index.php/athletics-ontario-weighs-in/
Here is a letter from John Craig, the managing director of Athletics Ontario, to Toronto mayor David Miller and city councilors Brian Ashton, Glenn De Baeremaeker and Joe Mihevc.
Re: Two Toronto Marathons
I am the Managing Director of Athletics Ontario, the governing body for the sport of track and field and road running in Ontario. We are funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and we are the provincial member of Athletics Canada which oversees our sport in this country and is responsible for international representation at sports competitions like the Olympics.
As part of our mandate, we are intricately involved in the hosting and staging of road running events in this province. In fact, Athletics Ontario was the original owners of the event property known as the Toronto Marathon, which we hosted for about 17 years. This event was traditionally hosted in the fall and eventually sold to Jay Glassman at a time when no other marathon event was held within the city.
I have worked closely with directors of both marathons currently hosted in Toronto, and consider them to be my friends. Both Alan Brooks and Jay Glassman have contributed much to this city and to our sport and we respect the rights of both of them to host the type and quality of event they currently are involved with.
Nonetheless, much of our roadrunning community operates – with the support of Athletics Ontario – on a traditional date and first claim basis. We have worked in the past to make sure date conflicts are kept to a minimum.
With that in mind, Athletics Ontario strongly supports Jay Glassman and the Toronto Marathon’s claim to a fall marathon date. If these two events cannot merge into a single strong event – something we have tried to mediate for many years – then allowing Jay’s Toronto Marathon to continue to hold its traditional fall date is the only reasonable course.
If one of these two events needs to be moved to the spring, Athletics Ontario firmly believes that the Scotia Bank Waterfront Marathon – the newcomer to the fall date – is the one which should be moved. The Scotia Bank Waterfront Marathon is a strong event under good leadership and it will be fine as a spring event, making a significant impact on the city, the sport and the welfare of the community. However, as the newcomer with no traditional claim to a fall date, this is the event which should surrender to the city’s wishes and move to the spring.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Thank you and good luck.
John Craig
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