Adult runners in Florida who miss the competition and hype of running in high school or college may soon get another chance at the glory of competitive running.
After one failed attempt at creating an adult cross country league, Rick Rothman is coming back with a better strategy to create a league where adults can form teams and compete against each other. The biggest problem he ran into last time was a lack of participants, both in runners and meet hosts.
"I couldn't get anybody else to host any meets," Rothman said. "I didn't go through the road running clubs; I just kind of put stuff out there for our USA Track & Field Florida. But I think I'm going to contact the road running clubs directly."
Florida has no shortage of road running clubs, so reaching out to those groups could prove to be an effective strategy for a more successful league. Although road running and cross country are not exactly the same, Rothman said that road runners shouldn't be put off by that. Training to run for the league would not be much different than training for a 5k or 10k -- it's just on grass instead of concrete.
Rothman said that adults who ran in high school are also likely to come out and participate. With a little extra effort to make athletes aware of the league, it has a good chance of building more support this time around.
"I think it could get to be a very big thing," he said. "It's a lot of fun. People like to compete."
Not to mention the bragging rights. Athletes can form regional teams that compete against other cities and Rothman is hoping to hold a state championship. Great teams may even qualify for the club national championship. Although adult life is busy and hectic at times, many people still make time for running.
"What we've found is that you know, with women especially, that's their time to get away from the house. They get away from the kids and the family and that's their alone time," Rothman said. "With men it's just a way to stay in shape and a way to have fun with your friends."
He has already planned to host a meet in Boca and is trying to get a few other meets organized around the state. Having more meets is critical since one of the rules is that in order to compete in the championship, your team must run in at least two local meets. You also must be a USATF member.
Whoever hosts the meet is in charge of scoring, timing and posting results. For those interested in hosting, the best strategy to is to hold the competition right after a high school meet, so that the course is already set up and ready to go.
While Rothman admits that an adult league isn't a necessity for life as we know it, he still believes that a Florida league would provide a great opportunity for competition, entertainment and fitness.
"They do it in a lot of other states and I just figured you know, it's a great sport," he said.
His modest words hint at the passion that the retired coach, as well as other athletes in the state, feels about distance running. If you are an adult who loves the sport and are interested in forming a team or hosting a meet, contact Rick Rothman at rick.rothman53@gmail.com