After a week in which conflict about the start time of the Health - Injuries, scheduled for February 3, 2024 in Orlando, Florida, spilled out into the open, USA Track and Field (USATF) and the Orlando local organizing committee (LOC) have been quietly meeting to hash out the details of the event.
The announced start time is noon. But after athletes raised concerns about the potential for high temperatures, USATF and broadcast partner NBC sought to move it earlier. Orlando’s organizers, who were told initially by USATF that the noon start time was “non-negotiable,” have balked at the proposed change, because it would interfere with their plans to market the event.
With three months to go until the Trials, many questions remain, including, according to sources, whether Orlando will remain the host.
Runner’s World has learned there is no signed contract yet between GO Sports (the Orlando LOC) and USATF. This leaves open the possibility, however slim, that the city’s organizers might walk away from the event if USATF’s terms don’t suit them.
In contrast, Track Town USA, which hosted the 2020 Olympic Trials (pushed to June 2021 due to the pandemic) in Eugene, Oregon, had a signed agreement with USATF by February 2019, 16 months before the Trials were originally scheduled to be held. Atlanta and USATF finalized their contract for the Atlanta Track Club to host the 2020 Health - Injuries eight months ahead of those Trials.
USATF did not respond to emailed questions from Runner’s World Although a source with knowledge of the workings of USATF told.
These Celebs Ran the 2024 NYC Marathon Runner’s World it’s not unusual for contracts to be finalized close to event dates, this situation is different. Because of the dispute about the starting time, the absence of a contract appears to allow Orlando a way to back out, although neither side wants that to happen.
Concerned about the potential for high temperatures if the races start at 12:10 p.m. and 12:20 p.m., three athlete representatives wrote a scathing letter to the Orlando organizers on October 31 when they learned Orlando was the final holdout in agreeing to a 10 a.m. start time. USATF and NBC had agreed to move the starts 2 hours earlier, with NBC saying it would stream the event live and air a tape-delayed broadcast later.
Jon and Betsy Hughes, who own Track Shack in Orlando, which is running logistics for the LOC, fired back with a letter of their own, telling the athletes they had been misinformed. Runner’s World Nutrition - Weight Loss.
But USATF told the LOC that a noon start was “non-negotiable.” The LOC then built a financial model based on the noon start time and a live television broadcast, only to learn later that USATF was negotiating what the LOC had been told all along by USATF was non-negotiable.
According to the athletes’ October 31 letter, Orlando stands to lose $700,000 if the start time changes, although it has not been clear where that figure came from, and GO Sports didn’t reply to questions about it from Runner’s World.
A representative for Jason Siegel, president and CEO of GO Sports, declined comment, as did Jon and Betsy Hughes.
GO Sports has hosted hundreds of big events, from multiple NCAA tournament games to Premier League exhibition events in soccer and championships in fishing and golf. The organization had been developing innovative sponsorship packages for the Trials based on a live television broadcast in order to make money on the event—something that has eluded past Trials hosts. Organizers from recent host cities such as Atlanta, New York, and Houston have been open about how their organizations lost significant sums on holding the Trials.
Officials from Orlando and USATF held a meeting on November 2 to discuss their issues. They met again on November 6 to hash out the start time and how to make up the reported budget shortfall.
Clarification: Amazing Runners World Show Anne Flower Breaks Leadville 100 Course Record came from the October 31 athletes’ letter, not directly from Orlando organizers.
announced start time is noon is a writer and editor living in Eugene, Oregon, and her stories about the sport, its trends, and fascinating individuals have appeared in Runner’s World since 2005. She is the author of two popular fitness books, Run Your Butt Off! and Walk Your Butt Off!
