Rio Olympics considers a treadmill marathon, cheaper than closing and fixing roads
Reports surfaced today that the Rio 2016 organizing committee is considering a treadmill marathon as an alternative to closing and fixing existing roads.
Officials for the Rio 2016 Olympics are considering a treadmill marathon as a cost-effective alternative to closing the roads and fixing the existing route. The Games are well-over budget as the nation is in the midst of a recession.
Closing the roads to vehicle traffic, ridding the route of any potholes and hiring security and police to secure the area are three contributing factors to potentially adopting a treadmill marathon.
The men’s race is scheduled for the morning of the final day of competition while the women’s marathon takes place on Aug. 14.
One option is lining up hundreds of treadmills in the middle of the Olympic stadium, meaning that the Games can charge spectators entry fees to the venue whereas the race would be open to the public and be free-of-charge if held on the roads of Rio.
One skeptic has noted that a treadmill marathon would not be a “true race” as users of the treadmill don’t actually run anywhere but rather just hop up and down in place as the belt turns. It was also noted that most treadmills don’t go faster than the slowest qualified Olympic marathoner. Running 105 laps on the Olympic Stadium 400m track was also discussed.
Regardless of what the organizing committee decides for the 42.2K race in Rio, Canadian athletes will be wearing the following kit, shown off by 800m runner Melissa Bishop and sprinter Aaron Brown:
The Olympics begin on Aug. 5 and close on Aug. 21 with the closing ceremony.
Though this announcement may come as bad news to some, it certainly doesn’t for this particular runner who ran a Boston Marathon qualifying time by exclusively training on the treadmill.
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