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December 3, 2005

2005 JINGLE BELL RUN & THE PR MESS FOR NIFS

Earlier today I participated in the 2005 Jingle Bell Run -- an annual 5k / 3.1 mile road race that starts and ends at the Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium on the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI) campus. The main staging area for the race was the adjacent National Institute for Fitness and Sport (NIFS)--a mammoth 120,000+ square-foot multi-sport exercise facility that up until last night's news broadcast on our local CBS television affiliate WISH TV, had a squeaky-clean image here in Indianapolis. But I digress... first, let's get to the race:

Last year, I somehow managed to finish this same race in 34 minutes and 51 seconds, which placed me 610th out of 734 runners. This year, according to results posted just as I was leaving, my time was recorded as 35 minutes and 53.5 seconds, which means I was a full minute and 2.5 seconds slower than last year. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but then again, as with last year's race, I managed to run the entire distance of this year's Jingle without once stopping, which in and of itself, so far as I'm concerned, is accomplishment enough on a cold morning like today.

Now, back to the National Institute for Fitness and Sport...

I'm sure I'm not going to be the only blogger here in Indianapolis to cover this one (it's just too full of 'juice' for it not be the 'butt' of other bloggers jokes), but in case you haven't caught wind of it yet, last night's evening news broadcast on local Indianapolis CBS affiliate WISH TV revealed that since last April, undercover Indianapolis police officers have been making arrests over at NIFS for "indecent behavior and sexual activity in the men's locker room."

Today, when I went to NIFS to pick up the timing chip that allows me to know how fast I covered the 5k route, conversation after conversation about the arrests could be heard throughout the fitness center lobby. And to only make matters worse, right on the counter at the main check-in desk was a large sign that read:

GET YOUR NAME IN THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR
The Indianapolis Star is writing an article about people who workout, run, or do any type of exercising with co-workers, colleagues and/or business associates or clients, either occasionally or regularly. This seems to be an emerging trend in other areas, appealing to busy business persons or others who want to keep exercising AND develop stronger relationships with the co-workers, employees or clients.

If you are doing this or plan on doing so and would like to be interviewed, please call Barb Berggoetz, health/fitness writer for The Indianapolis Star, at 444-6294 by Nov. 30.

While the idea for the article, as well as the method for locating people who can be interviewed for the story, make sense, I nearly fell to the floor with internal laughter and amusement when I saw the sign's bolded title ("Get Your Name in the Indianapolis Star"... how ironic).

Anyway, irony aside, I had a great time participating in this year's Jingle Bell Run. I saw a couple of old friends--Beth and Becky--and it was good to see that both are thriving and doing what they love, and the line to get post-race water and bananas was a lot more efficient than last years when runners waited upwards of fifteen minutes just to rehydrate after the race.

As for NIFS, I hope it doesn't become too damaged by what I'm sure will be an onslaught of negative publicity by local press and bloggers alike. For the record, I used to be a dues-paying member at NIFS, but dropped my membership back in early-2003 (in favor of a using gym closer to work). Never once did I see examples of the non-fitness-related activity that's now being reported by WISH TV, but I suppose that doesn't mean it wasn't happening. In any event, I wish NIFS well, and I also encourage their staff to reconsider the title of that sign!

Posted by Mikal at December 3, 2005 11:48 AM | TrackBack