UPDATE: Dan Cruz with the Competitor Group sent me a note on Friday letting me know that the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon has been moved to mid-November. Also, he let me know that the Competitor Group has contributed more than $200,000 to Scottish Rite Hospital in the past four years. So all is well.
In 2010, Dallas Marathon (or, at that time, the Dallas White Rock Marathon) officials signed a contract with Competitor Group, which produces the Rock ‘n’ Roll race series, forbidding it to produce a race in Texas between December 1 and May 31. This clause would protect Dallas Marathon and let it grow into a big event that attracts runners, vendors, and business to the area. It would also allow the nonprofit organization to continue to raise money for Scottish Rite Hospital.
It appears that the Competitor Group forgot/misread/overlooked/didn’t care about the contract and just announced that the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon will take place on December 8 this year, which just so happens to be the exact same date as the Dallas Marathon.
Runners and businesses are upset about the news. But, according to this article, it sounds like many will be loyal to Dallas. Competitor Group said that sharing the date of the Dallas Marathon will only negatively affect 776 runners.
Dallas Marathon’s official response is after the jump.
DALLAS MARATHON SEEKS TO PROTECT RACE DATE FROM CONTRACT BREACH BY COMPETITOR GROUP
January 25, 2013 (Dallas) — The Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon) holds an existing contract with Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) which explicitly prevents CGI and its affiliates, with the exception of the Dallas Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, from staging a running event in the state of Texas from December 1 through May 31. In December 2012, without prior notification to the Dallas Marathon, CGI announced it was changing the date of the San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon to December 8, 2013 — the same date as the 2013 MetroPCS Dallas Marathon.
The Dallas Marathon considers CGI’s actions to be a material breach of its contract, which would cause irreparable harm to the Dallas Marathon, the City of Dallas and our beneficiary, Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC). The Dallas Marathon is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and has contributed more than $2.8 million to TSRHC since 1997. Competitor Group, Inc. is a for-profit organization owned by Calera Capital.
The Dallas Marathon became aware of this issue in December and immediately contacted CGI senior management in an attempt to resolve this issue. CGI only recently provided a substantive response that, unfortunately, does not address the conflicting dates. The Dallas Marathon intends to take whatever steps are necessary to protect the interests of all those who benefit from our great racing event.
