N.Y. Road Runners Exec VP/Business Development & Strategy ANN WELLS CRANDALL is leaving the organization after 12 years to join Pac-12 Enterprises as Exec VP/Business Development & Strategic Partnerships. Her last day at the organization that runs the ING N.Y. Marathon will be Dec. 20. She will start in the Pac-12's S.F. offices in January. NYRR has not yet named a replacement. Crandall worked for Pac-12 Enterprises President GARY STEVENSON at the NBA in the mid '90s. She said the opportunities to work for Stevenson again and to build something new were irresistible. "This is a unique opportunity to build a unique property," said Crandall, "and working with Gary again is something I’m really looking forward to." Stevenson said, "Ann has a lot of creativity and she really understands how to package assets and fit a property to a client's needs." Pac-12 Enterprises VP/Corporate Partnerships STEVE KEREPESI, who has been handling sales, will now take more of a client service and marketing role, Stevenson said. Crandall's departure comes just weeks after the controversy surrounding this year's N.Y. Marathon, which was ultimately cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy despite city and NYRR officials initially saying the race would be held. However, both Crandall and Stevenson insisted they had been talking about the job for months. “The timing is unfortunate, but this was a conversation (with the Pac-12) we’d been having for some time," Crandall said. “Twelve years is a very long run at any property and I am still very attached to the (NYRR) organization" (Terry Lefton, THE DAILY).
INSURANCE FIGHT: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Matthew Futterman reported the NYRR and its insurers have been "waging a pitched battle the past four weeks over how much money race organizers will be able to reclaim in the wake of last month's canceled New York City Marathon." At stake in the negotiations "is the financial health of one of the country's foremost athletics clubs, as well as some $15 million in nonrefundable entry fees that runners paid when they registered for the race earlier in the year, plus millions more paid in ticket sales and sponsorships." New York Financial Services Superintendent BENJAMIN LAWSKY has "stepped in to try to mediate a settlement in recent days" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 12/3).
