TALKING WITH PAUL IRELAND - ENTERTAINMENT DIRECTOR ABOUT ST. JUDE’S AND THE ART OF MARATHON-ING (DAY 4 OF WRITING THE RAILS)
by David Kav
The ever lovely, patient (since she’s put up with my dramatics and spazz attacks) Theresa Carter (The Local Tourist) shot the video above. This was taken at the Cook Convention Center where 12,000+ runners were gearing up and registering for the St. Jude’s Memphis Marathon taking place in a few short hours. Starting gun goes off at 8 am Saturday, December 5th, 2009
In watching Dancing by Janine, a belly-dancing troupe that followed my mini-set (which is a precursor for the set I’ll be performing for the runners at Mile 9 tomorrow from 8:30 to 10 am,) I was able to chat with Paul Ireland, the Entertainment Director/Co-ordinator for the St. Jude’s Memphis Marathon off-camera. I unearthed some interesting tidbits while asking him the one question that has been on my mind ever since Writing The Rails was planning the Inaugural Memphis Tour:
Knowing that a LOT of cities host their marathons on Sunday (i.e. Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, NYC, etc.) why is Memphis hosting theirs on a Saturday?
According to Paul, since Memphis is a small town, they discovered that people are more likely to stay out and spend money on a Saturday night as opposed to a Sunday night. On Sundays, most out-of-towners just “head home.” As I asked, “in other words, it’s a way to boost the economy and tourism aspect of Memphis?” ”Yes”
Paul also mentioned that Memphis is quite a religious town. Therefore, a Saturday marathon is less likely to offend or to interrupt church time/services. Also may aid in recovery time (i.e. more time in the weekend before it ends.)
As a city boy, these are tidbits that I tend to forget since Chicago, Boston, and NYC are rich in their tourism and have high reputations for their respective marathons (not to forget the others that aren’t mentioned…since a marathon..no matter WHERE they may be held is a challenge that deserves its respect regardless of the geographic location.) Regardless, as it was already mentioned in the video above, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital raised $1.5 million last year. This year alone, St. Jude’s has already raised $2.8 million. Writing The Rails is PROUD to be a part of this statistic with it’s $325 collection thus far. We will be presenting the final check at the Private Concert for St. Jude’s Patients and their family members on Sunday, December 6th. Again, due to health regulations and state laws, Writing The Rails will not be permitted to take any photos or videos of this event. However, there will surely be reports to follow.
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