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by G. Sax

I read Erik Hare’s recent post on this blog about the Twin Cities Marathon with much interest. Honestly, it was a great piece. Very promotional of the Twin Cities, the marathon, the sponsor, the participants, the crowds. BUT…

(And, y’know, this isn’t Erik’s fault.) He called it "the Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in the Nation." Sigh. Marathon promoters have been pushing the phrase endlessly, and Erik got swept into it when he gave the marathon the moniker.

The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in the Nation. The Most Livable City. The Best Place to Raise a Family. Must we? Do these things even mean anything? Every two or three months, we’ll see the Twin Cities turn up on some chart touting how awesome we are. I get it, okay. I work in PR, so I know the importance of promotion. I believe in promotion, in self-promotion, in standing with pride and straight posture and saying "I am this, and this is greatness."

And at the same time, I can’t help but feel that it’s all a bit desperate. How often do you see New York or Miami or San Francisco talk about how they’re the best city for this or that? They don’t have to, of course, because they are established destination cities that are what they are: Bright, sexy, and spectacular, in that order.

These are the kinds of cities that have Condé Nast on the payroll. Best restaurants and spas and hotels and places to be seen drinking harm-free espresso at 2:30 in the a.m.

Us middling lands have to vie for "Best City With Four Distinct Seasons." I want no part of this grasping at titles. This blog provides the real clues as to why St. Paul…AND Minneapolis are fantastic cities in which to set up a homestead with a yard and a porch and a birdbath and maybe even a shingle somewhere along beautiful Grand Avenue. Yeah, a wildly successful shop featuring blown glass and handmade paper products and a lazy calico kitty that sits quietly by the cash register for most of the day.

This blog understands promotion. Real photos, real stories, real people behind the real photos and stories. So thanks for the story, Erik. I’m a fan of your promotional writing and the marathon, and I’ve had lots of friends run the local marathon back when I should have run it—when my legs were younger and my tummy had less bounce per cubic ounce. But you know what? *Gulp.* I am going to publicly commit myself to running it next year.

The first person I confessed this to was Laura Wiener, the marketing director over at the North Metro REALTORS® Association in Coon Rapids, MN. She, 24, and her boyfriend, Trent Scheidecker, 25, ran the Twin Cities Marathon this year. At the finish line, he presented her with a ring and promptly became her fiancé. They covered it in the local newspaper and everything. Now that’s what I call beautiful, don’t ‘cha know?