Different course may be taken

Trials might not return to Boston

The Twin Spin weekend - Olympic trials on Sunday, the 112th Boston Marathon on Monday - was a huge hit.

"We're very pleased with the way it turned out," said Guy Morse, executive director of the Boston Athletic Association, which organized both races.

But unless the terms and conditions change, the trials are one and done, both here and in New York, which staged the men's race last November. "The model needs to be reviewed," said Morse, who estimates that the BAA had to pay more than $1 million for the privilege of playing host, as did New York. "The structure of the deal needs to change."

The US Olympic Committee, which was delighted with the orchestration of both trials, is willing to be flexible. "We're always looking to make sure that it works out for everybody," said Rick Burton, the USOC's chief marketing officer. "If there's a concern, it's something we're looking to address. Obviously, there's work to do. Probably by 2012, I do think it'll be done differently."

Morse said that the BAA had a good working relationship regarding race logistics with both the US Olympic Committee and USA Track & Field, which each contributed $20,000 toward broadcasting costs.

At issue were the USOC's rules about sponsors, which require organizers either to use the USOC's or to find companies in non-competing categories, which don't include the rights to use the Olympic name or symbols. "When it's an Olympic trials, we have an obligation to protect our sponsors," said Burton.

Since Boston and New York also have sponsors for their marathons, conflicts were inevitable.

"You take our sponsors and their sponsors and cross over, and it's a short list," said New York race director Mary Wittenberg.

Boston and New York, which are two of the five World Marathon Majors, had proposed a combined sponsorship deal.

"We thought we had the ultimate dream distance-running package, but it wasn't good enough," said Morse. Nor could Boston find anything on its own. "Either the companies flat-out weren't interested or they already were maxed out," Morse said.

Still, both shows went on, to boffo reviews, with significant crowds and media coverage. Past Olympic trials were held out of the spotlight in cities like Birmingham, Ala., Columbia, S.C., Pittsburgh, and Charlotte.

"There's no going back after putting these events on the big stage," said Wittenberg.

The advantages of Boston and New York are obvious: knowledgeable and passionate spectators, telegenic settings (Back Bay/Charles River and Central Park), and organizers with decades of experience in staging mass-participation events.

"What was way misunderstood in the past is what it takes to do this," said Wittenberg. "We have an open-air, open-road stadium, and a lot of things can happen out there."

After last year's near-washout, with gusty winds and chilly rain creating the worst conditions since 1970, BAA officials hardly could believe their good fortune last weekend, with cool temperatures, partly sunny skies, and moderate breezes for both days.

"What a difference a year makes," observed race director Dave McGillivray. "Payback was great."

Though Boston had served as an Olympic trials venue a dozen times, the race always had been held as part of the traditional marathon and used as one of two or more events to select the team. This was the first time the city staged a separate race and the first time that it had used a multi-loop format instead of the customary point-to-point course.

The loop layout, which took a turn around the Common before heading up Commonwealth Avenue and across and along the river, showed the city at its best. It also made for times that would have been impossible on the hilly Hopkinton-to-Boston track.

"Joanie [Benoit Samuelson] kept ribbing me about running around in circles like a gerbil," McGillivray said. "But she came up to me later and told me it was great. It did what we wanted it to do. It was a fast course, which was the objective."

The trials also produced riveting drama: Deena Kastor's come-from-behind victory, Magdalena Lewy Boulet's daring dash-away that got her on the team, Blake Russell's deferred dream come true.

Sunday's star-spangled showcase set up Monday's encore, with the world's oldest annual marathon producing Robert Cheruiyot's fourth men's crown and the closest women's finish (two seconds) in history, as Dire Tune and Alevtina Biktimirova turned Boylston Street into a drag strip.

The city's marathon clockers and watchers never had seen a weekend like it.

"Boston's mystique is alive and well," Morse proclaimed. "The legacy will continue." The open question is whether the BAA can afford to double down again.

John Powers can be reached at jpowers@globe.com