Part II: The Long Beach Marathon Man Interview

Part II: Dan Joyce Interview

In Which the Long Beach Marathon Man Talks About ...

The 2004 Long Beach Inline Marathon
The Earlier Start Time for the Race
The Disney Inline Marathon
His New Company
His Doubts About Olympic Status for Inline Skating
The Future of Inline Marathons

Robert: How is attendance shaping up for this year's Long Beach Inline Marathon?

Dan: We should have between 600 and 800 skaters, which is about what we average every year. The inline skaters are just one part of the whole marathon weekend. There are about six events on the course that morning. We get about 12,000 athletes in all [10,000 runners, 2000 bicyclists and 600 skaters]. It's actually one of the largest multi-sport marathons in the country.

Robert: How does this year's attendance compare with last year's?

Dan: Last year, we had a little over 600. Unfortunately, in most inline races you get about 60 percent of registration at the [pre-race] expo. So it's kind of hard to gauge how many entrants you'll have ahead of time. We do a week-by-week analysis on registration coming through. Our numbers are up a little bit from last year so that's why I think we'll be up a little this year.

Robert: What time does the inline race start this year?

Dan: This year it's going to start a little bit earlier -- 6:45 a.m. And the reason for that has to do with the runners. Last year, the weather was hot. Not for us, because we get done earlier, but for the runners who are out there for three, four, five hours. The temperature was in the high-80s, so they had some heat stroke issues. So the committee asked us to start earlier thie year.

At 6:45, the sun is just coming up. That's fine for us. Unfortunately, the cyclists have to start in the dark.

Robert: You've been the race director of the Disney Inline Marathons since it started two years ago. How is that going?

Dan: My experience with Disney has been very positive. Last year, there was a problem with the weather, and a boardwalk got wet and it was very slippery. So now they are going to change the course. At first, they didn't want to do anything that would interfer with the park. But now all the higher ups at Disney are saying, "It's been a great two years with the marathon. Yes, you have permission to do a better course ... close off more streets ... interconnect with more of the park." So I think this course will be bigger and better for next year.

Robert: The Disney marathon has been a fairly well-attended and popular event. What accounts for its success?

Dan: It's a great event. It's a good destination event. ... I love that event. ... It's like anything else. I'd like to skate one of my events. But I never get to. I am usually up for two days before the events putting everything together.

Robert: Do you plan to continue as race director for Disney?

Dan: It depends on what happens with my new company. It's on the thrust of taking off. I told Disney that if I was available I would work on the event. And I told that to Long Beach, too. The question is just the availability at this point.

Robert: What is this new company you have started?

Dan: It is a company called Rubber Sidewalks. It's an environomental company that takes tires out of landfills and uses them as raw byproduct. We actually make a product that's made of 100 percent recylced tires that is now going into city sidewalks. [Check out Rubber Sidewalks]

Robert: Can you skate on them?

Dan: Absolutely. You can skate, wheelchair, walk, whatever.

Robert: What do you see as the future of inline marathons.

Dan: I think the bigger events out there will survive. But I think the events are going to need more dollars to come in. ... What I would like to see is more outside companies taking a risk and actually coming in and helping to bring inline events to the masses?

Robert: How would they do that?

Dan: By providing the money for advertising, getting the word out, getting really behind events. ... Inline skate marathons are a great demographic. You have men and women, a 60-40 split, and an age group between 25 to 65. There are very few sports that can provide that demographic.

Corporate sponsorship is what the sport is going to need to grow. Aside from that, it's going to need an education campaign to convince these recreational skaters to come out and actually skate the races and support them.

If inline marathons don't get that kind of support, we will continue to be under the radar for however long we can be under the radar.

Robert: Do you expect the number of inline marathons to grow?

Dan: I think some new marathons will pop up here and there based on the success of the big marathons. The St. Paul Marathon is an example of that. But what I want to see is an inline marathon, besides Duluth's, that will grow over the years. [NorthShore Marathon executive director] Chuck [Carlberg] does an incredible job. But Duluth is not the norm. And it's so hard to put on these races. ... What I would like to see is an event with 10,000 skaters in a major market.

Robert: You worked in the early '90s for the U.S. Olympic Committee. What do you think of the chances of inline skating becoming an Olympic sport?

Dan: It will never happen. I'll tell you right now, there's no way. The people in the inline skating federations just aren't smart enough to lobby to get into the Olympics. ... And inline skating doesn't have the allure. It is very big in Europe. But as far as the United States, there is no strong body pushing it.

... No, inline skating will not get into the Olympics within the next decade unless there are some radical changes.

Robert: With some 12,000 athletes descending on Long Beach on the weekend of October 10th, will it be possible to find a hotel room?

Dan: Good question. I just got an email. The rooms are starting to sell out. This is the third largest event for Long Beach, and it may be becoming the second. The largest event is the Grand Prix, which has been around forever. But the marathon in terms of magnitude continues to grow 20 percent a year. Last year, the hotels in downtown sold out 30 days before the event. I haven't checked, but they are probably very close to that right now.